Soul Reaper Katara
by Bronx Shogun
Summary: AvatarxBleach crossover. Katara, after becoming a Shinigami, thought that her life couldn't get any harder than it already was. To bad she doesn't even know the half of it...
1. The Necklace

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, as well as a new breed of enemies.

**Disclaimer:**Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nick and Bleach is owned by Shonen Jump

**A/N:** Greetings Avatar Section, I am The Bronx Shogun! And this AvatarxBleach Crossover has been dancing in my head for sometime now, so I thought I should just write it. This is my first Avatar fic (Well it's also part Bleach, but you get the idea) so it might not be that good.

Well, that's all I have to say, now on with the fic!

* * *

Chapter One: The Necklace

It was quite a busy afternoon in the shopping district of Ba Sing Se. People were walking from one stand to another, merchants showed off their goods to any curious customers. Walking down the busy street, Katara and Toph were carrying several bags of food they had just bought. "Well, that's everything on the list." Katara said while scanning the list repeatedly to make sure they didn't forget anything.

Toph grunted as a bag nearly slipped from her hand, "Where's Aang and Sokka? They should be helping us with these."

"Aang's still trying to find Appa and Sokka..." Katara sighed before continuing, "He's at the Haiku club again."

"Like he's _actually_ gonna get with any of those girls again."

The blind girl's comment made Katara giggle a bit. Just as the two girls were about to head home, something caught Katara's attention. The Waterbender turned to a nearby stand, where a merchant was selling what looked like bizarre items and curios. Intrigued, she decided to look for a bit.

"Well, what can I do for ya, little lady?" The shop keeper asked. He was an old man, probably around his fifties or so. His hair was gray, except for his side burns.

"Oh, I'm just looking, that's all."

"Well look all you like; I have some of the rarest and astounding items you've ever seen." The old man began, "I used to be a collector of strange things. But I seem to have far too much, so I decided to sell them!"

Katara smiled as she kept looking, that's when she spotted a particular item. It was a necklace that was crafted to resemble what appeared to be the skull of some sort of creature, laced with a black string. Curiosity getting the best of her, Katara picked the necklace up and examined it. "Where did you get this?"

The Shop owner eyed the necklace before replying. "That there, is one of the most _interesting _pieces I have ever collected. I bought it from a hermit in Omashu about four years ago; he said that he crafted the thing." He laughed a bit just before he continued.

"He also said that this necklace was _'Crafted for the soul.' _I have no idea what he meant, and I don't really care."

The young Water tribe girl dangled the necklace before her own eyes; there was something about this thing that made her _want_ to buy it. She didn't know what it was, but still.

"Hey Katara, are you gonna buy it or just stand around looking pretty?!" Toph slammed her foot onto the ground. A giant piece of earth jumped up in her face before falling back to the ground, indicating her less than subtle impatience.

Katara turned back to the shop keeper and asked, "How much is the necklace?"

The owner rubbed his chin in thought, trying to come up with a reasonable price, "I usually charge a hefty price, but since this is just a _necklace _I'l charge you two gold pieces."

"I'll take it!"

* * *

Sokka leaned against the wall of a building, looking over the failed Haiku poem in his hand.

"Four hours of work, all for nothing." He gritted his teeth as he remembered being thrown out again for having _one _too many syllables. "I'll show _you_ too many syllables!" He grumbled.

He began ripping the paper in his hands to millions of pieces, then tossed them to the ground and started stomping them as they fluttered down. He stopped after about a minute, taking in several deep breaths, "Ok, I'm better now."

"Hey Sokka!" looking up above his head, Sokka could see the one and only Avatar flying by on his glider. The young monk landed about a few feet away from him, closing his glider up as he turned towards his friend. "Any luck today?"

The Water Tribe warrior simply pointed at the shredded paper at his feet, "What do you think?"

"Don't worry about it Sokka, Haikus are hard. I remember this one time that I entered a Haiku contest."

"You lost?"

"Actually, I came in second place."

"You're not making me feel better here Aang."

Aang grinned inanely and rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry about that."

Sokka was about to complain again, but he spotted someone out from the corner of his eye. Aang saw him as well, and both boys turned to see that it was a Dai Li agent. His eyes covered by his hat, and his hands in his sleeves. "Avatar, follow me please." The Dai Li said before turning around and walking into a dark alleyway.

Staying on their guard, the two followed him into the alley.

* * *

Aang and Sokka followed the Dai Li agent into a small dark room, all the windows inside were boarded over, and in the middle of the room was a table with a lit candle on it. As the two entered, the door behind them swung shut. They both turned around instantly, only to see two more Dai Li agents standing on either side of the door.

"What's going on?" Aang looked back to the first Dai Li agent; who was already standing at one end of the table.

"Relax Avatar; Long Feng requires you're _assistance_with an urgent situation." The agent pulled out a scroll from his sleeves and unfolded it on the table. Aang and Sokka looked over it, and it was a map of the entire city. On it, a large section was circled. Upon closer observation, they could see that the area was not too far from where they were currently residing.

"There have been several mysterious murders in the last few weeks." The Dai Li agent began. "Several people have reported seeing the victims floating in the air before being brutally killed by some unknown force. The Dai Li believe it to be Fire Nation agents in the city; however, even _we_ have been unable to find these assailants. This is where you come in Avatar. We want you and your friends to search this area, find the assailants and eliminate them."

Before Aang could say anything else, Sokka pulled him away from the Dai Li agent. "Could you excuse us for a second?" He then took Aang to one corner of the room and whispered, "_Aang, I highly doubt we can trust what they're saying"_

_"I'm not sure about that Sokka; there have been a _lot_ of people dying for awhile."_Aang protested, "_Maybe it is the Fire Nation. Maybe they found a way to get inside the city."_

_"This is the Dai Li we're talking about, the same guys who are keeping the war a secret from the Earth King. For all we know, this could be a trap."_

_"I don't think so Sokka, they might mean it this time."_Aang turned back to the Dai Li agent and asked, "What's in it for us?"

"Should you help us, we shall inform you on any information regarding your missing bison, should any turn up." The agent replied.

"See Sokka," Aang turned towards his suspicious friend, "not only can we stop a Fire Nation ploy, but this could be our _only _chance at finding Appa! We got nothing else to lose, so how about it?"

Knowing that he couldn't convince the monk otherwise, Sokka sighed in defeat. "Alright, I'll let Katara and Toph know once we get back."

"Great!" Aang turned back to the Dai Li agent, a new fresh feeling of hope at finding his bison shining in his eyes, "We'll do whatever we can to help."

* * *

Aang and the others strolled down the dark alleys of Ba Sing Se as the moon above them was shining brightly. The cool breeze added to the dead silence of the area. "Sokka, where to?" Aang asked.

Sokka looked over at the map the Dai Li had given them. "According to the map, the killings took place in these alleys. We should split up to cover more ground."

Katara looked towards one of the alleyways, and for a split second, she could have sworn to have sensed something emanating from there. _What's going on?_

"You alright Katara?"

The young Waterbender snapped away from her thoughts and turned back to Aang, "I'm fine, don't worry."

Toph, however, could tell that she was lying. She could sense that her breathing and heart rate had changed a bit. But she just assumed that Katara was a little worried about what they might be up against, so she let it go. "Sokka and I will check this alley." The Earthbender said, pointing to one of the alleys to her right.

Aang nodded, "Ok then, me and Katara will check this one." The group then split up and searched the alleys.

Katara and Aang moved through cautiously, on guard for any traps. Katara Still couldn't shake off the uneasiness that made her shiver slightly. "Hey Aang."

Aang looked back at his Waterbending companion, "Yeah Katara, what is it?"

"Do you really think that it's the Fire Nation that's responsible for these killings?"

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure myself. But if it is them, then I'm going to stop them."

"Well, I just have a feeling that it could be something worse..."

Aang stopped moving and faced Katara, "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just..." Katara hesitated slightly, trying to find the right words to tell him how she felt about all this. "For the past few nights, I've been hearing these strange cries."

Aang cocked an eyebrow in confusion, "Strange cries?"

"Yeah. At first, I could barely hear them. But over time they started sounding clearer. The strange thing is that they don't sound like _anything_ I've heard before."

"Oh." The Airbender pondered on what she told him. "Whatever we're dealing with then, we're going to stop it. Let's get moving." He turned around and continued down the alley way, with Katara following suit.

* * *

"See anything?"

"Nope." Sokka replied as he tossed his boomerang into the air in boredom, "Sense anything?"

"Nope."

Sokka sighed as he easily caught his boomerang. "For all we know, this could be a trap by the Dai Li. Maybe _they're_ killing these people and saying that it's the Fire Nation so they could lure us."

"Sokka, if it was a trap, then you and Aang probably wouldn't be here."

"I know, I know, I'm just being cautious. Bad things _always_happen to us." Sokka tossed his boomerang once again as while walking. He stretched his arm and caught the projectile again with ease. Without warning, he stopped suddenly and shivered a bit. "Hey Toph, are you getting the feeling that we're being watched?"

The blind earthbender stopped as well, having the same sensation as Sokka did, "Definitely."

Sokka was about to reach for his other weapon, his trusty tribal club, but was paralyzed in pain. He gasped for air, feeling as if something was trying to crush his body. Although his eyes were clenched shut, he could tell that he was being lifted into the air. "Toph!" He gasped out.

Before she could do anything, Toph could feel herself being grabbled by something as well. She struggled to free herself, but to no avail, "What's...going...on!?" She cried, still trying to get loose of whatever was holding her.

* * *

The sound of distant screams caught their ears.

"Sokka! Toph!" The two sprinted through the alleyways, hoping that their friends were still alive. When they arrived, they came to a horrific sight; several buildings had been toppled over. There were no bodies to be found, so it was obvious that they were uninhabited. On the stone ground was what appeared to be the claw markings of a giant beast.

Katara prayed that her brother was ok. She grasped her mother's necklace tightly, hoping that some sort of miracle would happen. A faint moaning sound came from around the corner, and Aang and Katara slowly moved towards the source.

What they found was almost unspeakable...

Standing before them was Sokka; his left arm has bleeding and completely broken, and he was dragging his right leg, slung over his shoulder was Toph, who also was seriously bleeding and lifeless.

"Sokka!" Katara rushed to her brother, who had dropped Toph and began falling to ground himself. She managed to catch him just in time, and cradled his head in her arms "What in the world happened? Sokka? Sokka!" She tried to shake his near limp body in an attempt to wake him up.

"K-Katara" Sokka muttered weakly, he strained to lift his head, and came to eye level with his sister, "There's something...out t-there...you and A-Aang...have to get out..._now_..." His head dropped as he drifted into unconsciousness.

Tears started forming in the young girl's eyes. "Sokka!" Katara held her brother's limp form in a tight embrace, trying to make heads or tails of what was going on. She turned to Aang, who was moving Toph onto her back. "Is she..."

"No, she's still alive. But you have to heal them fast." Aang lifted the unconscious Earthbender and carried her to Katara.

She nodded and laid Sokka gently on the ground beside Toph, she opened her water pouch to heal the two. Before she could, the heart wrenching cry of an unknown beast caught her ear. Her entire body froze as her heart started beating rapidly. Aang had also heard the beastly cry. "Katara, was that..."

"That's it. That strange cry..."

Suddenly, one of the buildings before them toppled over. The two benders covered their faces as the dust and debris blew at them. As it settled, they both looked to what had caused it, but what they saw was something both amazing and terrifying. Standing before them was a giant of a creature; its dark purple body was muscular and built like a human. It wore a white mask with two horns sticking out, but what was most bizarre of all was the giant hole in the middle of its chest.

The creature glared at the two benders with its yellow eyes, turning its head between the two. It starred at Katara for a brief moment before fixing its gaze on Aang.

**_"Yes...You're the one with the high Reiatsu..." _**The creature sneered, its voice laced with demonic energy. It lunged at Aang with its mouth wide open. At the last second, Aang slammed the palm of his hand to the ground, and from the ground emerged a giant wall between them and the beast.

"Run!" Aang scooped up Toph and ran as fast as he could, Katara followed suit and tried to pull up Sokka before running off. The creature smashed through the wall with terrifying strength, but found the other side empty of its prey. The monster howled in frustration.

* * *

The two benders just barely managed to get away, and found an abandoned storehouse to hide in. Aang kept watch at the door while Katara healed Toph and Sokka. The young girl's mind was too puzzled to think straight.

_What _was_that monster? Why didn't the others see it? Why was it after Aang? _

"Katara, are they ok?" Aang asked her with much concern in his voice.

"I managed to heal the more serious wounds, but they're still in bad shape." Katara closed her eyes, picturing the monster that did this to them, "What _was_ that..._thing_?"

"I don't know, but the way it was staring me...it look like it wanted to eat me. It said I had 'Reiatsu.'"

"_Reiatsu_? What's that?"

"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out."

The creature's roar could be heard not far from where they were. Tightening the grip on his staff, Aang headed for the door. "Aang wait!" Katara was about to rush to his side, but he stopped and turned to her.

"No, I'll face that thing alone; I need you to stay here with Toph and Sokka."

Fighting back more tears, Katara nodded and went back to the others, "Just be careful Aang." The Avatar nodded and ran out.

* * *

_**"You can't hide from me baldy..."** _

The creature stomped across the streets. It raised its head to sniff the air, trying to find the Airbender's scent. Suddenly, a gust of wind shot out at it, forcing it to stumble back several feet. Once it regained its composure, the creature turned to where the wind gust came from, what he found was Aang standing before him. _**"So, you decided to show yourself."**_

"I'm only going to warn you once...leave Ba Sing Se now, and I _won't _have to hurt you." Aang pointed his staff at the creature, fixing a stone cold gaze on it.

His threat only seemed to make the creature laugh, _**"Why should I be scared of you?"**_

"Because I'm the Avatar!"

**"_The Avatar? You don't say..." _**The monster charged at Aang, mouth wide open and ready to devour him, **_"That gives me all the more reason to eat you!"_**

Just as the creature came down on him, Aang jumped over him and landed to his rear. The monster turned around, only to have a giant rock smash into his face. Aang used this chance to push him back, he took an extremely deep breath and blew at the monster, sending it flying back and crashing into a building.

The beast got back up and charged at Aang again, swinging its giant fists at him. But Aang jumped back just in time. "You'll have to do better then that!" Aang quickly created an air scooter and hovered around the beast several times. The beast attempted to smash him with giant fists again and again, but the small Air Nomad was too fast for him.

Frustrated, the beast smashed over another building that Aang was directly in front of, blocking his path. Aang came to a stop, and the monster used this chance to swing another punch at him. Aang managed to jump to the side, but the monster's attack managed to graze his left arm. The Avatar skidded on the ground for a bit before stopping, and touched the spot where the monster had hit him. It hurt only slightly, so it was nothing.

However, the beast seemed to be laughing,**_ "Not bad, but you might want to look at your arm again."_**

Confused, Aang looked at his arm again. To his shock, the skin around the spot had turned a reddish/ blackish color. Like a grotesque plague, it started to spread across his whole arm. Aang could feel the pain intensifying with every passing second, and he gritted his teeth against the pain, "What...did you..."

**_"A little trick of mine... my skin is covered in a special poison that takes affect as soon as it comes in contact with someone. So the slightest touch was enough!"_**

The monster approached Aang, grinning a beastly grin the whole time, _**"The poison is spreading through your whole body faster than normal, and so you won't be alive for very long. But don't worry; I'll make sure to eat you **before **you die!"**_

With what little strength he had left, Aang used his earthbending skills to gather as much dirt into his good hand as possible. The beast bent down slowly, intending to swallow Aang where he stood. He could smell the thing's breath, meaning it was close enough. He tossed the dirt into the thing's eyes, and the monster howled in agony.

Aang used this chance to escape, and grabbed his staff to pick himself up. He started running as fast as he could. He didn't want to risk spreading the poison in him quicker than it already was.

The monster wiped the dirt from its eyes and spotted Aang trying to get away from him. With a loud roar, it started chasing after him.

* * *

All seemed quiet, as if the world itself had stopped. Katara prayed silently, praying for Aang's safe return. A small tear escaped her eye, and quickly moved her hand to wipe it away. Everything that has happened was unexplainable. The monster, her friends getting hurt, what was going on? As she pondered this, a faint light shone to her closed eyes. Looking down, she saw that something began to glow underneath her shirt. She reached into the inside pockets and pulled out whatever was glowing.

The glowing object was the necklace she had bought earlier that day. The skull face necklace shone a brighter light, and Katara's breath was caught in her throat. Her heartbeat began to increase with every passing second. "_What's going on?"_

A voice in the back of her mind told her to put it on despite her better judgment.

Before she could make a decision, the storehouse doors opened, and Katara looked up to see Aang. For a moment, the world seemed as if it was back to normal, but she felt a painful slap over every part of her skin, forcing her to reluctantly wake back up to this twisted reality.

Aang was on one knee, weakly using his staff to support himself. Katara could notice the red and black infections that were on his face, and he coughed violently as he lifted his head to the Waterbender, "Katara...run..." Aang muttered before falling to the ground.

"AANG!!" Katara ran to his side and her tears broke to the surface. She held up Aang's unconscious form, wishing that this was all some sort of sick dream. An unearthly roar pierced through the night...the monster was coming closer. What could she do to stop it? Not even the Avatar, who was the strongest among them, could defeat it.

She then remembered the necklace that was still in her hand. She looked at it again, and it was still glowing.

_"Please...please let this thing help..." _

She prayed as she placed it around her craned neck. It dangled just above her mother's as it started glowing even brighter. Katara experienced the familiar feeling of her breath being caught in her throat and beads of sweat ran down her head.

Suddenly, she could feel something push her back with amazing force. Katara was sent flying, spinning midair and back several feet before hitting the ground face first. She slowly got up, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Across from her, she saw herself still at the same spot she was at merely seconds ago, lying lifelessly.

_What?! Impossible, I'm right here! _

She then noticed a long chain across the floor; it looked like it was starting from her body. Looking down to where it ended, Katara could see that it was connected to her chest.

_What is this? What's going on?!_

A loud crash broke her from her shock, and the entire wall had been smashed apart with a horrible crash. Dust blew into her face, and Katara reactively covered her mouth, but the dust didn't seem to have an effect on her. As it settled, she could see the giant beast standing above her, its yellow eyes possessed an inhuman desire to eat.

Reacting quickly, she dashed off back to her body, hoping to get her water pouch. The monster darted its eyes to where Katara was running to, obviously able to see her body, and that she was going for the pouch.

**_"So, you think that some Waterbending can kill me?"_**

The creature stretched out a hand, and pinched Katara's pouch with two massive fingers. It then flicked it across the room.

Katara stopped in her tracks; her only defense against this...thing, was gone. As the monster approached the now unconscious Aang, Katara put her fears aside and raced to him. She stood between him and the monster, stretching her arms out, as if facing a ferocious Platypus Bear. "Get back!" She shouted, the fear rising in her voice, "I...I said get back! Leave my friends alone!" The monster merely made an inhuman noise, a noise that Katara thought was laughing.

**_"You don't have to sound so mean you know. I was once human too, until I died and turned into a Hollow."_**

"A...Hollow?"

**_"That's right..." _**The monster-or rather Hollow-chuckled. Without warning, it scooped up Katara into its hand. The Waterbender tried to pry herself free from its grasp, but to no avail. _**"Being a Hollow is great! But why take **my** word for it?"** _Curving its bleached white jaw , the Hollow smiled as it wrapped its other hand around the chain connecting Katara to her body. _**"You should experience it for yourself!"**_

With one strong tug, the Hollow ripped the chain out of Katara's chest and tossed her to the ground. Katara landed back first, and painfully lifted her head to see the large hole in her chest. As she attempted to pant the seemingly non-existent air, a dark blue substance poured out from the hole and quickly spread across her body.

Katara screamed as the substance warped itself around her left arm, and then formed into what looked like some kind of demonic appendage. Her screams only became louder as a white substance appeared to cover the whole left side of her face, taking the form of a skull.

**_"Soon, you'll become a Hollow, just like me." _**The Hollow turned around and approached the poisoned Avatar, "**_Before that happens though, I better devour this kid's soul."_**

As she screamed, Katara could only see the Hollow approaching Aang, a hideous grin on its face as it got closer and closer.

_Aang..._

* * *

_Katara opened her eyes weakly, her vision was blurry at first, but it soon cleared and she could make out what appeared to be a gray sky. She sat up and looked around at her surroundings. The place appeared to be some icy tundra, with massive ice pillars lined up beside one another that stretched across as far as her eyes could see. She looked down at the floor, which was a frozen lake, but was clear enough for her to see her reflection._

_For a second, she thought she was going to see herself as one of those 'Hollows'. However, she still looked like herself; the hole in her chest was gone as well. "What...happened?"_

**I have been waiting for you.**

_Startled, Katara jumped back up to her feet_,_ and_ _looked up and to see someone-or something-standing atop the nearest ice pillar to her right. It looked like a person, but its body was fish-like with its blue scaly skin, fin-like hands and feet, gills on its neck, and four wiggling tentacles replaced its chin. The thing wore a dark blue coat with light blue lining inside over its body, and similarly colored trousers._

_Katara inched away from whatever this thing was, "What are you? Where am I? Am I..."_

_The creature gazed at her with its red eyes before replying in a rough voice, _**You're not dead, this is a world that exists within you.**

"_Within me?"_

**Yes, and I am-**_ Only a muffled noise came out of the thing's mouth as it tried to say its name._

"_Who, I couldn't hear you."_

**I see**_, it said cryptically. _**But in time you _will_ hear my name...provided that you survive.**

"_Survive?"_

**Have you forgotten already? You're becoming a Hollow!**

_The young girl's breath was caught in her throat once again, and the image of her changing into one of those...things flashed into her mind, followed by the image of the other Hollow attempting to eat Aang. "Please, what can I do to stop that Hollow?"_

_Suddenly, a cracking noise caught her ear; she looked down and saw the ice floor under her feet begin to crack. Katara tried to move out of the way, but the floor shattered, sending her falling into the dark waters below. She tried to swim back to the surface, but found herself unable to. Of course, she realized that she could breathe down here easily._

"_What's happening?" She asked, though she wasn't expecting the thing to answer down here. But she was wrong._

**Listen Katara.**

_The rough voice of the creature called out to her as hundreds of icebergs appeared, sinking down into the bottomless sea. _

**You have a great power within you. You must find it in one of these icebergs before it's too late.**

_"A great power?" Katara whispered to herself, "How can I..."_

**Clear your mind of everything. Concentrate, so it is but a blank canvass. Concentrate and it will reveal itself to you.**

_Having no other choice, she closed her eyes. Katara cleared her mind of all of her thoughts... thoughts of her friends dying, and thoughts herself becoming one of those things. She took a deep breath, and opened her eyes. What she saw was hundreds of long white sashes floating all around. _

_"My power will reveal itself to me." She repeated the creature's words, "How can I find it with all..." She then spotted what looked like a red sash right beside her. "That's it!"_

_She grabbed the sash and used it to pull herself towards the iceberg it was attached to. She cut through the dark waters to the iceberg and found something incased within it. It looked like a single edged sword with a dark blue hilt._

**Well done, you've found your powers.**

_Katara turned her head around and found the mysterious creature behind her, _

**Maybe next time, you'll hear my name.**

_Before Katara could say anything, the creature said, _**This is not a time for hesitation. Remove the sword from the iceberg, and awaken your true power!**

_Katara nodded, and punched her hand through the stinging ice. From inside, she gripped the sword hilt in her hands and strained to pull it out. "What power is this?" She asked through gritted teeth._

**This is the Power...of a _Shinigami..._**

* * *

The Hollow slowly approached Aang; a wide, ravenous grin was plastered on its mask. It snickered sinisterly, and the Avatar's massive amount of spiritual energy only served to make the Hollow crave it more and more.

Before moving to devour the child whole, a massive explosion caught its attention. It turned around in irritation, only to see nothing before him. It eyes grew wide in realization when he recalled that was the same spot that Katara was only moments ago. Before the Hollow could react, it felt a sharp pain going through its head. It howled and thrashed about as something crashed to the ground in a loud thud.

The Hollow saw that the falling object was one of its horns, and watched as dissipated into dust and vanished into thin air. It turned around back to Aang, but what it saw was a lone figure standing between the two. Whoever it was, the person was dressed in a black warrior's kimono with a white sash over the waist, and a pair of straw sandals with white socks. A dark blue sword sheath was held to by a strap at the person's waist, and a katana pointing towards him grasped in their hand.

The Hollow looked at the figure's face, and growled in confusion to see a white hollow mask hiding the person's identity. The person twirled the Katana in their hand so the blade was facing down, and in one swift motion, smashed the Hollow mask on with the sword's hilt.

With the other hand, the lone figure removed the mask, revealing their true face. The Hollow's eyes squeezed in shock and its jaw nearly hit the ground as it saw who it was, **_Impossible! _**The figure it was gazing at was a girl, not just any girl--but the weak prey from earlier before. **_Y-you're a...Shinigami?!_**

Katara darted her eyes down at the black kimono she was wearing, inwardly puzzled at how she changed into this. She pushed the feeling aside however, and turned her full attention back at the hollow, "_I told you before..."_ She spoke softly. She once again raised her sword, grasping the dark blue hilt with both hands, "Leave my friends alone!"

Enraged, the Hollow lunged at Katara with a ferocious, high-pitched war cry. It stretched out one of its hands at her, but in one fluid motion, she sidestepped out of the way and swung her blade at the Hollow's hand, slicing off three of its fingers. The Hollow howled again and lunged at her with its mouth wide open, intending to devour her instead. But Katara skillfully jumped back, wearing an uncharacteristic grin on her face.

The Hollow continued to lunge at her again several more times, missing the Water Tribe girl each and every time. Katara then jumped over the Hollow and landed behind it, and swung her sword, slicing the beast' right foot off at its ankle. The Hollow howled out in pain again as it fell over on its back.

Katara walked up to the Hollow as it slowly turned itself onto its stomach. She pointed the tip of her blade at the monster's face, and stared down at it with cold, blue eyes. "You lost. Leave Ba Sing Se peacefully and I'll spare you." The only thing she received from the Hollow was a tremendous laugh, causing her to growl in frustration. "What's so funny?!"

**_You stupid Shinigami, you think you've won? Well, guess again!_**

Confused at the beast's cryptic threat, Katara collapsed to her knees and started coughing violently. She cupped her hand over her mouth as she coughed more, and saw her hand stained with blood. She darted her eyes back at the Hollow in terror. "What did you..."

**_The same thing I did to your monk friend when I grabbed your soul before! _**It chuckled evilly. **_The poison that covers my skin is already spreading through your body. _**The Hollow howled in laugher as it watched Katara shake in pain.

Katara coughed more and more, and looked back down to her hand and saw her skin turning the same blackish/reddish color. She could feel herself getting woozy and found it more difficult to breathe. She collapsed face first to the ground, while her blurry vision worsened and the Hollow crawled towards her.

**_You've cost me my meal, and dared to attack me...now I'll just have to eat you!_**

The Hollow opened its mouth wide, revealing a row of razor sharp teeth. Though her sight was blurred, Katara could see the clouded image of the Hollow about to eat her. Something then burst out of the Hollows forehead, and the Waterbender could make out what looked like a sword.

The Hollow froze in its place, and the blade ran up through its masked face, slicing its head in two. Through blurred eyes, Katara could see the Hollow disintegrate into nothing...and she could also see the dark distorted image of another figure standing before her before passing out.


	2. Mistress of Water and Master of Ice

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, as well as a new breed of enemies.

**Disclaimer:** Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nick and Bleach is owned by Shonen Jump

**A/N:** I wanna give a big thanks to all who left me their reviews! And a big thanks to my new Beta Reader, Typewriterman for editing the first chapter. Anyway, after much debating between me and my Beta reader on what the title of this chapter should be, we finally came up with one that seemed to fit. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Two: Mistress of Water and Master of Ice

Katara slowly opened her eyes. Blinking once, her vision became clear as she observed her surroundings. From the looks of it, she was back in her room of the house that she and the others were residing in, 'thanks' to Joo Dee. Dizzy with fatigue, she slowly sat up from her futon and rubbed her sore temples.

"What happened last night?"

With that simple rhetorical question, the events of last night played back in her mind. She remembered seeing Sokka and Toph in a near fatal condition, Aang being poisoned and near death…but what fully got her awake, was the terrifying image of that Hollow. Katara let out an involuntary shiver, and remembered that she herself had been poisoned as well. She took a look at her hand; the reddish/blackish infections were no longer there.

Before she could sort anything out, Katara realized that the others were in a more serious condition. "Aang!" She jumped to her feet and bolted out the door.

* * *

"Well Aang, what do ya think?!" Sokka held up the drawing of Appa to Aang. It wasn't the greatest of drawings to say the least. "I think I do a pretty good Appa, huh?"

"Um…that's great and all Sokka, but…" Aang darted his eyes up and down the drawing, trying to figure out which part of the bison was which. "…what's that thing sticking out of his butt?"

"First off, that's his head. And secondly, _that's_ his tongue."

"Ok, so what are the things sticking out the side of him?"

"IT'S HIS FEET!" The boy sighed as he looked down to the floor. "I haven't seen him in awhile, ok?"

"I think it looks ju-u-u-st like him." Toph, who was sitting at the table sipping tea, complemented sarcastically.

"Thank you Toph! I worked really hard to get all the de-" The Water Tribe warrior stopped mid sentence, realizing who he was talking to. "Why do you feel the need to do that?"

At this point, Katara rushed in. She was completely exhausted as she darted her eyes from one person to another, "Are you ok?" She asked them in a worried tune.

"We're fine, but you look like you should be sleeping." Aang said as Momo jumped onto his shoulder. The monk playfully patted the lemur on the head before continuing. "I guess fighting those Fire Nation spies was tough last night."

"'Fire Nation spies?' It wasn't spies Aang, don't you remember what happened?" Katara asked in a voice louder and aggravated, and turned her head to Sokka and Toph, "You two were nearly killed." She then turned back to Aang, "And you were poisoned by that Hollow!"

"A what?" Sokka cooked a confused eyebrow at what his sister just said, "Katara, the Dai Li wanted us to get rid of Fire Nation spies that were causing all these murders…I don't seem to recall this '_Halluw_' or whatever it is you call it."

"Wait a second, you mean you don't remember what happened?" Katara darted her eyes from one person to another, all three of them shrugged in response. The Waterbender leaned against the wall with a loud sigh and rubbed her sore temples, "I guess it _was_ just a dream."

"You don't really seem to be yourself Katara. Maybe you should go back to sleep." Aang suggested.

"You're right Aang…maybe I _am_ just tired." The waterbender nodded in agreement. She was about to head back to her room when Sokka called her.

"By the way, I think you dropped this." He pulled out something from his pocket and tossed it to her. Katara caught the object and looked at it. Her eyes widened in surprise; it was the skull necklace she had bought yesterday. Her hands trembled as she continued to gaze at the necklace.

Her reaction now definitely had everyone worried. "Katara, are you ok?" Aang asked worryingly. The Water Tribe girl sighed deeply as she turned to him and smiled.

"I'm fine Aang…I think I'll go for a little walk. You know, for some fresh air." She tucked the necklace into her pocket and walked out the door. Aang and Sokka watched as she stepped out, both boys completely out a lost of what just happened,

"Does anyone else feel like something's bugging her?" Sokka asked.

"Something _is_ bugging her." The boys turned their attention to Toph, who had remained silent throughout the whole conversation. "I can feel it. Her breathing and heartbeat changed a bit."

Aang walked over to the window to see Katara slowly walking off and sighed. "I hope she's ok."

* * *

The early morning sun rose up from behind the city's inner walls, and a cool breeze swept through the air; it helped ease her troubled mind. Katara stood on the center of a bridge and leaned her weight on the wooden side. She looked down to the river below and saw her reflection in the clear blue water. Taking out the necklace, she dangled the mysterious piece of jewlery in front of her face.

Her mind, running a mile a minute, braced itself as a million questions rose up at once...

_"Did all that really happen?"_

**_"No of course not!"_**

_"Then why do I feel like it really did?"_

**_"You're being paranoid Katara. Just get _rid _of this thing and _get_ on with your life."_**

_"Maybe I should put it on. You know, just in case."_

The skull shaped necklace began to glow ominously, and Katara stepped back as it shined. A bolder part of her mind told her to put it on and see for herself, while her natural instincts told her to throw it into the river and forget about it. Taking in another sigh, she placed the necklace around her neck and waited. The skull's light grew brighter as Katara felt a familiar force pushing her.

Katara staggered back from the force of the push, like a punch to her gut, but quickly regained her footing and looked to where she was standing before. In a confusing turn of events, she found herself sprawled on the same spot she just was on. She looked down at her 'current' self; she was wearing the same black kimono from last night with the katana in its blue sheath at her waist.

The Waterbender took in several deep breaths as she gripped her chest; her whole world felt topsy turvy now. "It was real…it-it was _real_…" She could still feel the Hollow ripping the chain from her body, recalled slowly being transformed into one of those things, and the other world and that fish-like creature and what it had told her.

**This is the power…of a _Shinigami_…**

Katara looked down at the katana at her waist; she instantly yanked it out and tossed it to the other side of the bridge. Bringing her gaze down at herself again she looked over the kimono she was wearing, "This can't be happening…this is just impossible!" A high-pitched wail broke through the air and Katara shot her gaze up at something coming down at her. She narrowly dodged to the side as the thing missed her and landed on the bridge railing.

The creature was smaller, and stranger than any thing she remembered seeing before, with a light blue feline-like body, and a white cat shaped mask with red whisker markings on its cheeks. Katara took a fearful step back of realization as the thing hissed at her, "A…H-hollow…" She stretched a hand over the bridge and tried to bend the water, but nothing happened, causing Katara to gasp, "Why can't I-"

Before she could finish, the Hollow lunged at her and slashed her across her left shoulder with its claws. Katara landed on her rear, grasped her bleeding shoulder tightly. The Hollow hissed again and lunged at her. While frozen over with fear, all Katara could do was let out a scream as the Hollow was about to devour her.

A fiercely cold wind blew by her, zipping by in a blue stream and made its way towards the Hollow. Staring wide eyed, Katara saw several quick slashes come in contact with the Hollow, and a second later, the beast's body split into several pieces before disintegrating into nothing.

Her blue eyes stared in awe, and Katara was speechless at what just happened, "What was…"

"You ok?"

Snapped from her thoughts, Katara looked up to find someone starring down at her; it was a young boy who looked a little older then her, he had aqua green eyes and spiky snow white hair. He was wearing the same black kimono she was wearing, but he wore a sleeveless white vest over it, and strapped to his back was a long katana.

The boy extended a hand to Katara, offering to help her up on her feet.

But Katara quickly got back to her feet and lifted her arms into a defensive pose. "Stay back!"

The boy gave her an irritated glare before saying, "Is that how you thank the person who saved your life twice?"

"Twice? You mean you're the one who killed that Hollow last night?"

"That's right, if it wasn't for me, you and your friends would be dead. So I suggest you show me a little more gratitude, Katara."

A small gasp escaped Katara's mouth, "Wait, how do you know my name?"

"I overheard your monk friend say your name before he passed out from the Hollow's poison."

"You mean, you were there?"

"Yes, when I saw your soul leave your body, I was going to get you somewhere safe. But the Hollow showed up and, well you know the rest."

Katara remained silent for a moment, trying to figure out what to ask the boy next. A million questions were in her head and maybe this kid answer them. "You probably have a lot on your mind right now, feel free to ask me anything." The boy replied.

Katara nodded and asked him the most important question she could think of, "What exactly am I?"

"We're what's called a Shinigami."

"A…Shinigami?"

"Yes, we're also known as 'Soul Reapers' or 'Death Gods', and we can only be seen by humans who posses a certain level of spirit power."

"Spirit power, you mean Reiatsu, right?"

The boy nodded, "That's right; the job of a Shinigami is to slay Hollows, and send the Pluses on their way to Soul Society."

"Pluses?"

"Pluses are basically the spirits of the dead, they wonder the earth until ether a Shinigami sends them to Soul Society, or…" The boy seemed to pause before continuing, "They turn into Hollows."

Katara was at a lost for words after hearing what the Hollows were, "You mean Hollows are humans?"

"Yes, after the chain of destiny, which connects the person's soul to its body, is destroyed, the soul will transform into a Hollow a few months afterwards."

The boy paused again and allowed Katara to take in everything he had told her. Katara soaked up what she had heard; those disgusting Hollows were once human beings? She almost couldn't believe that, but she recalled her own 'Chain of Destiny' being ripped from her body and nearly becoming one herself. "What do the Hollows want?"

"The Hollows wonder the world in search of powerful souls to devour, dead and living alike. They do this not only to satisfy their hunger, but to also to fill the gap in the holes their souls were in once. Many different types of Hollows exist in another world called 'Hueco Mundo'"

"What about this Soul Society place?"

"To you humans, Soul Society is heaven; it is also where the Shinigami operate."

Katara took in a deep breath, "Shinigami, Pluses, Soul Society, I can't believe these kinds of things are happening to me."

"Well I didn't expect you to understanding what a Shinigami is to begin with." The boy replied as he walked passed Katara, "How did you get Shinigami powers anyway?"

"I don't know, I got them a soon as I was able to see those Hollows. I don't even know how I've been able to see this things to begin with!"

"I do have a theory on that." The boy walked to where Katara had tossed away her katana and picked it, "Very few people can see Shinigami, but even fewer might have their own Shinigami powers and don't know it. Those powers might awaken a little after someone comes into contact with anything releasing a massive amount of Reiatsu. Were you near anything that was releasing Reiatsu before coming to Ba Sing Se?"

Katara leaned against the railing and pondered on his question, "Anything releasing a massive amount of Reiatsu." She pondered on this for several minutes before remembering something, "Back at the desert... when Aang went into the Avatar State."

At this point, the hilt of her katana was put before her face, Katara took a step back from the weapon as the boy looked at her oddly, "What's with you?" He asked.

Katara sighed and answered, "That sword, I got it from a creature from a world that was within me. I know that its not an ordinary weapon, but what is it?"

"Simple, this sword is a Shinigami's power in physical form." Resting Katara's sword on the railing, the boy pulled out his own sword from his back in one swift motion, "Zanpakutou"

"Zanpakutou?"

"A Zanpakutou may look like a regular sword, but each one is different for each Shinigami, I noticed that you were unable to Waterbend before, am I right?"

Katara laughed nervously as she began to blush, "You saw that?"

The boy chuckled lightly, "Perhaps you need the ability of your Zanpakutou to waterbend. Do you know its name?"

"Whats name?"

"The name of the 'Creature' you saw in your inner world."

Katara thought about it for a second, she recalled the fishlike thing trying to tell her its name, but she couldn't her it. "You mean that thing was my Zanpakutou?"

"That's right, but I guess you couldn't hear the name. How about this then, I'll help you unleash the power of your Zanpakutou, if you want to of course." The boy picked up Katara's Zanpakutou and held the hilt at her, "What do you say?"

Katara closed her eyes and thought it over, everything she had just heard from the boy, about Shinigamis, Hollows, and Soul Society was a lot to take it. Did she really want to do this? She knew that there were more Hollows out there in the world, but would she be able to fight them off and protect her friends?

_"Yes. Yes I do."_

Katara grabbed the Zanpakutou and yanked it from the boy's hands, "Alright, I accept."

The boy gave her a small smirk, "Very well then, met me at Lake Laogai tonight." With that, the Shinigami turned around walked away, and Katara could see the Kanji on the back of his vest that stood for 'Ten'. She then realized that she didn't know his name.

"Wait a second, what's your name?"

The boy stopped and turned his head to her, "10th Division Captain, Hitsugaya Toushirou."

Katara smiled lightly and nodded, "Then I'll see you tonight, Hitsugaya Toushirou." With a nod, Hitsugaya instantly vanished from sight.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, hoped you enjoyed the second chapter of this story. And now you all know who I'll be paring Katara with (Please don't have me killed Zutara fans). I actually think that this paring is cute; I call 'Hitsutara' (Laughs at how that name came out). Anyways, Read and review!!


	3. Zanpakuto Unleashed

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, as well as a new breed of enemies.

**Disclaimer:** Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nick and Bleach is owned by Shonen Jump

**A/N:** Yeah! Chapter three! And I finally got a great name for Katara's Zanpakuto. Hope you like it!

* * *

Chapter Three: Zanpakuto Unleashed

"What a beautiful moon out tonight."

Iroh stared out at the night sky through the window of the apartment. The stars shone brightly in the clear sky, although the moon shined far brighter. "I believe this would be a good time for a walk, wouldn't you agree Zuko?" The old Firebender asked his nephew, the young prince who had been in his room the whole day after his date with Jin.

"I don't need to take a walk." The young Firebender muttered through closed paper doors.

Iroh sighed slightly before continuing. "Come on Zuko, a little fresh air won't hurt. Besides, you might run into your cute lady friend again." The Dragon of the West grinned sheepishly, but received no response from Zuko for a few minutes.

"I said _no_."

Iroh sighed in defeat. "Very well Prince Zuko. You can stay here alone. Whatever makes you happy." He turned to the door to the apartment and stepped out.

* * *

Walking down the bustling city streets, Iroh smiled as children ran around playing merry games and older men and women gathered around drinking and chatting the night away. To think that he had laid siege to this city so long ago, had it been under Fire Nation control now, these joyous times would not be here. He marveled at how the people here still lived so happy, despite being on the losing side of a hundred year war.

He preferred things this way.

"I wish that my nephew was with me, this could really be good for him." He muttered to himself.

He stopped in his tracks as he spotted someone not too far ahead. Iroh quickly ducked behind a stack of crates nearby as he spotted a young girl in Water Tribe attire.

_That girl, could she be…?_

Iroh took a closer look at the girl's face, and he recognized her. She _was_ the girl he and Zuko had kidnapped when they were working with those pirates. However, the old veteran Firebender could see a hint of concern in her blue eyes.

_I wonder where she's going…_

Curious, Iroh decided to follow her secretly, yet there was another thing on his mind, _Does this mean that the Avatar is in Ba Sing Se as well?_

* * *

Katara arrived at Lake Laogai; she gazed at how the moon reflected off the surface of the water in the most beautiful way. The young girl rubbed the back of her neck worriedly, "Hitsugaya, I'm here, where are you? Hitsugaya?" She called out, but received no response. "He must be late I guess…"

"You're the one who's late."

With a yelp, a surprised Katara jumped forward about two feet. She quickly spun around and found the Shinigami captain standing behind her with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. "Was jumping like that _really_ necessary?" He asked her.

Katara took a deep breath and said bitterly, "Was sneaking up behind me like _that_ really necessary?"

Toshiro simply sighed before responding. "Whatever, did you bring the necklace?" Katara nodded and pulled the skull shaped necklace from her pocket, "Good, put it on so we can get started on your Zanpakuto training."

The young Waterbender wrapped the necklace around her neck and waited for it to glow, but nothing happened, the two just starred at the thing, waiting for its mysterious actions.

"What's wrong with this thing?" Katara yanked the necklace from her neck and dangled the thing in her face. "It was working when I got attacked by those Hollows."

Rubbing his chin in thought, Toshiro pondered on this as well. "Perhaps it only works when there's a Hollow nearby. It's practically useless until then."

Katara sighed, "Great, now how am I supposed to turn into a Shinigami?"

"Relax, I got that covered." Toshiro assured her as he reached into his white vest. He then pulled out what looked like a black fingerless glove with a white skull design on it.

"Wait…what are you doing?" She asked nervously.

"I'm just going to help you turn into a Shinigami…that's all." Was the young boy's reply before he lunged at Katara and grabbed her by the face with his gloved hand. The girl could feel her very soul being forced out from her body, and as Toshiro pulled away, Katara looked back and saw her body hitting the ground face first. She looked down at herself and realized that she was in her Shinigami attire with her Zanpakuto at her waist.

"How did you…" She looked up to ask Toshiro what he just did, but she caught him lifting her lifeless body and carrying it to a nearby tree. She had to wonder…he looked to be around Sokka's age, but he seemed to have an aura of wisdom and power; it was something she admired a bit, even if she didn't really know him that well.

Another thing crossed her mind; he said he was a captain of this 'Soul Society' place. Was that the highest rank among Shinigami? If so, how powerful were the other captains?

"Ready now?"

She was knocked from her thoughts as said Toshiro was now instantly standing before her again, Katara gave another yelp of surprise as she jumped back again, "STOP DOING THAT!"

Toshiro raised a confused eyebrow, but decided to let it slide, "Now that you're in your Shinigami form, we'll begin your Zanpakuto training. How this works is simple…" He slowly reached for the grip of his Zanpakuto and in one quick and fluid motion, unsheathed and raised it before him, "You have to fight me."

Katara gasped as her blue eyes went wide, "What?! Wait a second Toshiro, I don't understand, how will this help?"

"You'll have a better chance of hearing the name of your Zanpakuto under stress in battle. Therefore, if you want you to awaken your true powers, you'll have to fight me." With that said, the Shinigami captain charged at the Waterbender, "Now get ready Katara!"

Toshiro came at her fast, and at the last second, she jumped to the left as Toshiro swung his Zanpakuto down with extreme force. She skidded on the ground a bit at first, but the force from Tenth Division captain's attack pushed her back more, knocking her off her feet in the process. Katara got back on her feet, only to see the gleaming metal of Toshiro's sword heading for her face, and almost instantly she grabbed hold of her own Zanpakuto, unsheathed it and blocked the attack.

Toshiro pressed down hard, forcing Katara to drop to one knee as she tried to push him back, "It looks like your being precise with your Zanpakuto, but in order for you to unleash its Shikai form you'll have to focus." He told her.

"I know!" Katara gritted, trying to keep herself from losing her grip, but she could feel her arms beginning to burn from fatigue and just when she was about to lose it, Toshiro pulled back, allowing her to quickly get back on her feet and charge him with all her strength. She started to wildly swing her Zanpakuto at him, but Toshiro either blocked or dodged her attempted attacks with little effort.

In a flash, he pulled at the sheath from his back and fluidly struck Katara in the gut with it, forcing her to stagger back, she quickly regained her footing and prepared to attack again, but Toshiro put his sheath back and lowered his Zanpakuto to the ground.

"I'm impressed that you managed to stand your ground against a captain for this long Katara, but I'm done holding back…" He then instantly jumped high into the air, Katara watched as he raised his sword again and a light blue aura surrounded his body, "I shall show you what a Shinigami is truly capable of." He told her before shouting:

"Sit upon the frozen heavens, _Hyourinmaru_!"

Suddenly, right before Katara's eyes, a giant dragon made of frozen water appeared from the tip of Hitsugaya's sword, also a long chain started to grow from the butt of his Zanpakuto with a crescent-shaped blade attached to the end. Katara was needless to say, at awe of the Shinigami's Zanpakuto, but that quickly faded as the giant dragon came at her. She jumped out of the way as the dragon came down at her with sheer force, and water splashed from its body and landed on Katara.

She landed again to catch her breath, but started to shiver violently, she wrapped her arms around in an attempt to keep warm, still holding her Zanpakuto in her hands. She spotted the dragon coming at her again, but she was too freezing cold to move out of the way in time, so she placed her Zanpakuto before her in a defensive stance. The force from the dragon hit Katara head on and it knocked off her feet, flying across the lake before she hit the surface of the water with a splash.

Toshiro landed back onto the ground as his water dragon disappeared, the long chain at the butt of his Zanpakuto started to shrink before disappearing as well. He returned his Zanpakuto to its sheath and stood before the lake with his arms crossed, waiting for Katara to come back up.

"I know that you can call out your Zanpakuto's name, and if that didn't work, I don't know what will."

Little did he know however, that Iroh, who was hidden behind the bushes nearby, saw the whole thing, _"It has been a long time since I had seen a Shinigami,_" He whispered to himself, _"But who would have thought that the young Waterbender was one as well. I do hope she is ok though."_

* * *

Katara could feel herself sinking to the bottom of Lake Laogai; that last attack from Toshiro's dragon had made her whole body numb to the point where her Zanpakuto was dangling helplessly in her hand. Her blue eyes darted up to the surface of the water; she could barely make out the blurred image of the moon above.

_I can't…move my b-body…_ She felt her eyelids getting heavy as she started to drift from consciousness. _I…wasn't ready for…this…was I…_

**_You idiot…_**

Katara's eyes instantly snapped open at the sound of that familiar voice, _You, my Zanpakuto…_

**_That's right, it is me._**

The Zanpakuto's voice whispered to her.

**_And maybe now you can hear my name._**

_How do I…?_

**_Focus and repeat after me…_**

The low and rough voice interrupted her as it was about to begin to tell her the incantation,

**_Wash away all…_**

* * *

Toshiro could feel the sudden spike of spirit power rising from the bottom of the lake; he instantly reached for his Zanpakuto and prepared for another fight. A spilt second later, Katara jumped out from the lake and came down at the Shinigami captain with a downward slash with her Zanpakuto, but the boy jumped back and avoided the attack.

Katara stood before him, her black kimono was soaking wet and dripping, but Toshiro noticed her eyes, full of a much different emotion than that of the whining girl just minutes ago. "So, I take it that your little dip in the lake helped?" He asked her mockingly.

Her lips pursed as she returned a sarcastically amused look. "Yeah, it did…" She then held her Zanpakuto above the water with the blade facing down, "Wash away all…" A light blue aura of Reiatsu surrounded her as she finished her incantation, "_Kaiyou Danshaku_!"

Before Hitsugaya's eyes, the girl's Zanpakuto exploded into hundreds of little drops of water and fell into the lake. The Shinigami captain prepared for what she would do next, and as expected, Katara raised both her arms and two long water whips appeared from the lake.

She shot her right arm, and a whip acted accordingly, throwing itself towards Toshiro. As he jumped out of the way, he opened his mouth to scoff only to be interrupted by a second whip of living water. Upon dodging her second attack, Katara twisted her body around, causing more and more water to gravitate towards her. The water soon molded into demonic-like appendages as the hands turned into ice and hardened like sharp claws.

"Hey Toshiro," She called out, "This time, I'm not holding back!" Charging towards him, she started swinging her ice claws, of which he continuously and repeatedly blocked and repelled and dodged her attacks with his Zanpakuto, and yet he couldn't find the right chance to use his Shikai.

_I knew she would reach Shikai, but her powers are almost as high as a Vice-captain's._

Toshiro thought to himself. As he blocked another of the Water Tribe girl's attacks, he couldn't help but to make a connection.

_She's determined to protect her friends with these powers; I can see it in her eyes. In fact, the look in her eyes reminds me of Ichigo..._

Katara reared her ice claws back for another swipe, but Toshiro pulled out his sheath again and used it to strike her in the chest, knocking her on her rear. Just as Katara was about to get back up, the tip of Toshiro's sword was less than an inch away from her face.

The water immediately lost its life, splashing all about her. She knew that she had lost.

"Not bad, I knew you could do it." Toshiro extended his hand to Katara, offering to help her back up. With a smile, Katara took his offered hand and he helped her back on her feet.

Katara bowed politely despite the grudge she seemed to have built up during their duel. It was gone now, replaced by what had to have been…gratitude?

"Thank you Toshiro, I couldn't have done this without your help." She stretched out a hand over the water and hundreds of drops came forming around her hand, solidifying into her Zanpakuto's original form. "If it weren't for you, I never would have learned Kaiyou Danshaku's name."

"Your welcome then Katara," Toshiro returned a similar bow. He turned around and began walking away; casually sheathing his weapon as he moved at a slow pace. "I'll be in Ba Sing Se for awhile, so maybe I'll meet up with you again." With that, he vanished from sight.

Katara smiled a bit as she returned her own Zanpakuto back into the sheath and walked back to her body. In the bushes, Iroh smiled, "Well, I see she makes a fine Shinigami," he stood back up and began to walk back to the town proper.

* * *

It was already late in the night when he returned to the apartment, as he walked in, Iroh found the raven haired teenager meditating in the middle of the room. The four candles around him solely lit up the dark room, and flittered just slightly at the sound of approaching footsteps.

"A fine walk like that deserves a fine cup of tea." He strolled on over to the teapot and poured himself a cup, using his Firebending skills to warm it a bit.

"So, Uncle," Zuko broke away from his meditation and turned his head towards the elder man, "How was your walk?"

Iroh took a sip from his tea before happily replying, "Surprising Prince Zuko…very surprising."

**

* * *

**

**A/N:** Translation for the name of Katara's Zanpakuto:

**_Kaiyou_**: Ocean

**_Danshaku_**: Baron

Hoped you liked it!


	4. ModSoul Troubles: Part One

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:**AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, as well as a new breed of enemies.

**Disclaimer:** Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nick and Bleach is owned by Shonen Jump.

**A/N:** A huge thanks to Typewriterman for helping me write this chapter up, I'm gonna give him 49 percent of the credit for this.

What? It's my story.

* * *

Chapter Four: Mod Soul Troubles: Part One

An explosion screamed in the outer ring of the city, as yet another building collapsed from an unseen force. Dozens of peasants and refugees—the residents of this area—managed to escape with only minor injuries; but most important of all, without any casualties.

Katara sharply sighed at the confused mass of people from her rooftop vantage point, happy that the resulting damage was nothing too harrowing. Her black robes ruffled in the sharp winds from her high altitude on one of the many district walls, and her grip on her weapon only tightened at the thoughts of what _could've _happened.

"See what you've done?!" She called out angrily, "If you keep this up, someone's going to get hurt!"

Beyond her, another dark skinned girl paused in her jumping long enough for her face to be seen. Her dark long hairs, braided into two loops on either side of her head was kept surprisingly neat in contrast to Katara's. Her striking blue eyes had furrowed slightly, and her soft lips were pursed into a deviant smirk. Her arms were crossed over in front of her chest, and the doppelganger looked like she was about to say something before her eyes widened in surprise.

"You should calm down, Katara…she's not the only one causing damage…" The firm controlled voice of a second dark clothed (although white vested) swordsman appeared behind the first; however, his hair was a snowy white, not chestnut brown like the Waterbender's. "Why don't you let me take care of her while you g-"

"Cram it, Shiro…" Katara quickly snapped, before jumping high into the air after her look-alike.

'_Shiro?' _The Shinigami Captain groaned in his mind, '_I never should've told her my first name…'_

Jumping from building to building, Katara pressed forward after the blue clothed body-thief ahead of her. There was no way that she herself would ever be possible of such agility—that her friends knew of, anyways—and although light was waning from the now setting sun, it would only be a matter of time until someone spotted her…the Mod Soul-her that is, not…_her_…?

"This is just too frustrating!" Katara yelled out at the thought of it. "How the heck _did_ I get into this mess today!?"

* * *

The rays of sunlight rose over the city's inner walls, bringing light throughout the small district. The early morning breeze lightly flew against the young Shinigami girl's face as she dashed through the empty streets; blue eyes scanning every alleyway she came across. It had been nearly two weeks since Katara had last seen the Shinigami Toshiro, and so far, she had been able to put down any Hollows that had showed up in Ba Sing Se.

The girl stopped in her tracks as she came into a four-way intersection, darting her gaze from one way to another. '_Where is it?'_ Katara thought to herself. She slowly walked through the empty street, heading east at a careful and deliberate pace. '_It's here somewhere…I can feel it.'_

Her ears picked up an unearthly howl from the direction she was walking, and Katara broke into a full sprint towards the source. Her sandals clacked against the stone streets with every step she took, and her water pouch was slung over her shoulder in case she needed to go Shikai. She made a sharp turn around a corner and found her prey; a large specimen of Hollow stood before her, its maroon colored body was rather slender for such a tall creature and its white mask had a long snout that was about the size of a Fire Nation tank.

Remaining motionless, Katara's eyes zipped up and down the Hollow's form, taking in all the subtleties of its behavior from how it growled; to the way it slouched a bit as it stood above her. In the blink of an eye, she moved her right foot forward while simultaneously grasping her hand around the hilt of her Zanpakuto. The sudden action caused the Hollow to crouch low to the ground and raise its arms in a defensive pose.

As she watched the thing flinch before her eyes, the young Waterbender's lips curved into a smirk, "Yeah, you'll be easy to take down." Katara unsheathed Kaiyou Danshaku. The blade slid effortlessly against the inside of the curved scabbard as she pulled it out completely; she raised the Zanpakuto, reflecting light from the sun off the blade.

Seeing the attack from a mile away, Katara dodged the Hollow's lunge attack and ducked underneath the arm. She then thrust Kaiyou into the Hollow's arm, causing blood to spew out as she pulled her weapon out and lopped the monstrous arm clean off. Tensing her legs, she jumped right at the Hollow, and threw her left knee up; driving it into the creature's masked face. The cracking sound from the force of the blow rippled through the air as the Hollow staggered back.

She rushed at the Hollow as soon as she landed and slashed at the thing downward in one swift motion, slicing the thing in half. The Hollow cried out in pain as it disintegrated into nothingness. Taking a deep breath, Katara returned her weapon back into her scabbard. "That should be it for now" she muttered to herself. "It's almost morning…I better head back before the others wake up."

She had spent the whole night killing Hollows, and now she had to get back before her friends discovered her lifeless body just laying on her futon. Not needing any other motivation, Katara sprinted towards the direction of her home.

* * *

Katara jumped through the window of her room effortlessly, and found her body still laying peacefully on her futon. _'It looks like no one came in_.' which was a good thing in her case. She strolled to her real body and pushed herself in, and within seconds, Katara's once lifeless form opened her eyes and sat back up.

...And not a moment too soon...

The soft squeak of the hinges meant her room door was being opened, and Katara turned her head to find Toph standing in the doorway. "Morning Sugar Queen."

"Toph, what are you doing?" Katara asked her, feigning a yawn to sound as exhausted as she could.

"Well I sensed that you got up, so I figured that I should tell you that our servant is here."

Katara raised a curious eyebrow, "Servant?"

"Didn't anyone tell you? Apparently Long Feng and the Dai Li were so happy that we got rid of those Fire Nation spies for them, that they sent us our own servant as a 'thank you gift.' Aang and Sokka are talking to him right now."

"Well that was nice of them, I guess." She said as she made her way towards the living room; Toph followed suit.

* * *

Katara stared with wide-eyed, slack jawed disbelief as the older boy stood before her, flanked on both sides by Aang and her brother. He was dressed in a plain brown button up shirt with tan colored sleeves and trousers...But it wasn't what he was wearing that got her attention; it was his spiky snow white hair and aqua green eyes.

Turning towards her, the boy gave Katara a warm smile as Sokka came up beside him, placing an arm around his shoulder. "Katara, this is Chin, our newest servant. Chin, this is my sister Katara."

"It is an honor to be serving you Lady Katara." 'Chin' said as he extended a hand towards her.

Darting her eyes to his hand, the Water Tribe girl noticed some writing. Beyond a doubt, his palm read:

_- SAY ANYTHING AND I'LL KILL YOU! -_

With an involuntary shiver running down her spin, Katara took his hand and shook it while giving him a weak smile, "Its's good to meet you Chin." As she shook his hand, Katara tightened her grip ever so slightly, causing Chin to cringe against the pain.

"So Chin, do you know how to make tea?" Aang asked as he broke between the ironclad hand shake.

Ignoring the throbbing pain in his hand, Chin continued his fake smile. "Why yes, I'm quite found green tea, myself."

"Well isn't _that_ wonderful?" Katara said with sheer sarcasm. She walked past the group, grabbing Chin by the arm and dragging the boy with her out the door. "What say you and I run down to the market and get some tea leaves for us?"

Before Aang or the others could say anything, Katara slammed the door shut, disappearing from view. An awkward silence befell the room for an unbearable few seconds before Sokka finally spoke up. "Did anyone else find that a little odd?" The other two Benders simply nodded.

* * *

After being dragged into an alleyway, Katara let go of the boy's arm when she made sure that no one had seen them or followed them. Taking this chance, Toshiro dropped his smile for his more preferred stoic face. "I didn't expect you to have such a hard grip, you know that?" He said, as he rubbed his arm where she had grabbed him.

"Alright Toshiro, what the hell was that all about?!" Katara shouted, not caring how she sounded since no one was around to hear her. "I don't see you for almost two weeks, and then you come and all of a sudden…Sokka and Toph know you're in the room! What's the deal?!"

"Katara." Toshiro said softly, but the young girl paid no mind.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to fight off Hollows and make sure the others don't find out that I'm a Shinigami?! Did you not_ think _for one second, that all the Hollows could come after Aang now that you're in our house!?"

"Katara." He spoke up louder this time, but still to no avail.

"But how can everyone see you now?! Well, Toph can sense you…but you get the idea! You seriously have a lot of explaining to do Histugaya To-"

Her rambling was stopped mid-sentence as Toshiro cupped a hand over her mouth, who relished the—at least—temporary silence by sighing in relief. "You talk too much." He said before slipping his hand away. "First off, the only reason your friends can see me is because of this Gigai."

"Gigai?"

"It's what we Shinigami use to walk among the humans. Think of it like a spare body…we only use it if we're going to be in the human world for long periods of time."

"I guess that makes sense," Katara said in a much calmer voice, "but why are you pretending to be a servant?"

"It would easier for the both of us if I lived with you and the others. You already know that Aang has a massive amount of Reiatsu, which makes him an obvious target for the Hollows."

Realization dawned over Katara at that point, making her forget about her previous anger. "I get it now, with two Shinigami close to him, it would take less effort to stop the Hollows from getting to Aang!"

"Not just Aang…" Toshiro added

"What?"

"There are about five other people in the city who've I've been able to sense some reiatsu from."

"Five other people…Who?"

"Two of them are Sokka and Toph."

A gasp escaped Katara's mouth as her heart skipped a beat. Now her brother and Toph were in danger of the Hollows, and there was no way they could stand against one by themselves. "What about the other three?"

"I don't know…but they should be easier to sense in time." Blinking once, the young Shinigami captain reached a hand into his pocket and pulled something out, "By the way, you'll need this." he tossed the small object to her, of which Katara easily caught.

She eyed the odd container that was handed to her; it was smooth to the touch, but on one part of its round side was what appeared to be a caricature of a floppy eared rabbit. "It's cute, but…what is it?" She asked.

"Gikongan," He said unceremoniously. "Artificial souls designed by the scientists in Soul Society. Swallow one and your Shinigami form will be separated from your body."

Though intrigued, Katara couldn't help but notice the label printed on the top of the container. "If it's called Gikongan, then why does it say '_Soul Candy_' on the bottle?"

To this, Toshiro sighed irritably and kept his glance away from Katara either upwards, or down to her feet. "You can thank the Shinigami Women's Association for that…they thought that this name was cuter."

Though curious, Katara figured that from the sound of his voice, it was best that she didn't ask any further. She looked at the small bottle container one last time, weighing the pros and cons of this strange object. Her necklace _did_ help, but it would be a good idea to have this thing around. Noticing that one half of the bottle's top could be pressed down, she did just that and swallowed the small green pill that came out.

Just like how her other out-of-body-experiences began, the same force she felt from her necklace pushed her out of her body as it hit the ground with a thud.

Stumbling a bit at first, she quickly regained her balance. Katara looked down at herself and stared in amazement of the new Shinigami device, and to see that she was in her Shinigami attire. "Wow…it worked."

"Of course it did, what did you expect?" Toshiro asked, little aggravated by the girl's disbelief. "But that's not the only thing a Gikongan does."

Before Katara could ask, her human body slowly started to rise, causing her to gasp a bit as she saw the blue clothed girl get back to its feet, turn towards her direction and smile. "Why hello, my name is Katara," the possessed body chirped happily, "it's a pleasure to meet you."

The real Katara stared at her once soulless body with wide blue eyes, and sheer awe. "What just happened?"

"The Gikongan all possess a pre-programmed personality, so while you're on Shinigami duty, the pill takes over your body." Toshiro explained simply, "If you don't like it, then you can go back to having your body sprawled on the floor where everyone can see it."

"My motto: Early to bed, early to wake; makes a girl smart, pretty and great!" The Gikongan said with its overly happy tone of voice. The feeling of awe was quickly being replaced by irritation from the Water Tribe girl.

"Uh Toshiro, I don't have a motto."

"You can trust the scientists of Soul Society…_pyon_…" The Gikongan added.

"Well I said it had a '_Pre-programmed_' personality." The Tenth Division captain told her bluntly.

"Well I most certainly _don't _say-"

A black butterfly flew inches past Katara's face, interrupting her complaint. Without a word, Toshiro reached out to the insect, and allowed it to rest on his finger. Katara had no idea what species of butterfly it could be, or even if it was one at all. After a few seconds of silence, the insect took off, and the white haired boy looked at her with serious eyes. "A Hollow's going to appear just outside the inner walls."

Toshiro pulled out his own Gikongan dispenser, quickly popping in the small green pill as his true form was forced out of his false body. "Let's go." He then dashed off from the alleys.

Katara nodded and turned her gaze to her Gikongan possessed body, who stood there and simply stared back with a smile on her face. Katara simply didn't know what to do with it. "Um, stay here till I get back…and keep out of trouble." With that, she ran off after Toshiro.

"Ok, don't hurt yourselves!" The Gikongan chirped again as it waved them off. As the two disappeared from sight however, its warm smile instantly curved into a venomous smirk, "Suckers…_pyon_"

* * *

Standing atop the city walls, the two Shinigami looked out to the outer plains that sat in between the inner and outer walls of Ba Sing Se. Katara could make out the small figures of people who lived in the vast expanse working in the distance, as she scanned the horizon for any sign of Hollows. "Are you sure that a Hollow is going to come here?"

"Any second..." Toshiro muttered; his face was calm, but he was completely alert for it. As if on cue, a massive explosion shook from underneath them. Looking down, they saw their target as a few peasants fled from the clouds of smoke that expanded, fearing artillery fire.

Katara jumped down from the wall, falling through the colloidal smoke and landing on her feet effortlessly. As the smoke cleared, she could see that the Hollow was no bigger then a full grown Moose Lion. In fact, its white mask could have been the skull of one, only lacking the horns. The rest of its dark grey body was lobster shaped, but with four ferociously snapping claws instead of two.

A whole night's worth of Hollow hunting before had completely worn her out; Katara knew she didn't have enough Reiatsu left for a prolonged fight. "Uh Toshiro, feel free to jump in anytime." She called out to the young boy atop the walls.

"I'll just wait here, if you don't mind..." he simply replied.

Katara eyes bulged out of her head upon hearing his response, not knowing whether she heard him properly or not. "WHAT?!"

Seeing the girl off guard, the Hollow charged in and swung one of its giant claws at her, but Katara ducked under the attack; barely pulling out her Zanpakuto in time and countering by slicing off its arm. A spine chilling cry of pain escaped the Hollow, before it swung one of its three remaining claws from the side, sending Katara sailing to the ground nearly twenty feet away.

She ended up lying face first on the soft ground when she finally rolled to a stop, but managed to pull herself back up to her feet. Wincing as the pain in her ribs kicked in, huffing hard and panting, Katara's bright blue eyes avoided the thing that had just assaulted her just now, and settled them on the white haired captain high up on the wall. "Toshiro, you brat, give me a hand down here!" She shouted as the Hollow rushed at her again.

"Fine, I'll help you." He called back, hopping off from his spot on the wall and landing on his feet next to her with ease. "I just didn't think you were _this_ pathetic as a Shinigami."

Without so much as glancing towards it, he effortlessly jumped to the side as the Hollow smashed into the wall beside him. Toshiro slowly turned his head towards Katara, only to find the girl's fist rose up, indicating that she had sucker punched the thing back.

"What…did you say?"

"Sorry, what was that?" he said boldly, "You kind of mumbled that…"

"What…did…you…_**SAY**_!?" She shouted this time, tossing the white hair of the young boy back from the wind that billowed from her spiritual energy.

"I'VE BEEN HUNTING HOLLOWS _**ALL**_ DAY! I'M COMPLETELY EXUASTED, AND JUST GOT SMACKED ACROSS THE FIELD BY THAT…THING!"

As the wind's strength grew more and more, the young 10th division captain could have sworn that her Reiatsu was increasing with every word she shouted out.

"YOU'VE GOT SOME _DAMN_ NERVE TO SAY I'M _PATHETIC_, WHILE YOU'RE JUST STANDING THERE, WATCHING ME LIKE I'M PUTTING ON SOME KIND OF _**SHOW **_FOR YOU!"

Toshiro took a somewhat careful step back, not that he was afraid of Katara or anything, but that didn't mean that he couldn't make a mental note to never piss her off again, either. Luckily, the revived moaning sounds of the Hollow caught his ear. "Katara…"

"_You _kill it…" She growled low and almost emotionlessly, her blue eyes more intimidating than any Hollow's cries ever could be.

Huffing—although quiet enough that she didn't hear it—Toshiro quickly sliced the Hollow's head in two, already returning his Zanpakuto into its scabbard as the beast disintegrated into nothingness.

Mere seconds had passed since the encounter, and the pure look of fury on the Katara's face had already disappeared, replaced instead by a cutely sour face deep in thought. "You got me mad on purpose, didn't you?" She asked softly.

Toshiro sighed upon hearing her soother and friendlier tune of voice, relishing it rather than the previously intense silence. His lips curved just barely, but disappeared when her eyes settled on him. "You _do_ get a little stronger when you're mad…"

"Yeah, I kind of noticed." She smiled (back), but groaned from a sharp pain in her side. He calmly moved over to her, moving her hands away so he could place his own on the injury.

"Hold still." Toshiro commanded, and Katara dutifully obeyed. She watched as a light blue aura emanated and then surrounded the boy's hand, as he pressed slightly more to her rib. A small chill sent her Goosebumps and ran down her spine as the pain slowly dissipated. Toshiro soon pulled away, and his hand was no longer covered in light. "Feel better?"

The Waterbender softly placed a hand to where it hurt previously, but now felt nothing, "What did you do?"

"Just basic healing Kido…there's no need to thank me." Standing back up, he lowered his hand down to her, helping her up to her feet. "Our job's done. Let's get back to our bodies."

* * *

**Last words from the Shogun:** This chapter was going to be longer orginally, but the Typewriter conviced me other wise. Couple of other things to note.

1: Sorry to say, but Aizen and the Arrancar will not be appearing in this story (Katara hasn't been a Shinigami for that _long_ ya know). But that doesn't mean that there won't be any Bleach-ish bad guys in this story.

2: I plan on having Katara reach Bankai later on. When you ask? I'm not gonna say!


	5. ModSoul Troubles: Part Two

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:**AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, as well as a new breed of enemies.

**Disclaimer:** Still plotting to over take Nick and Shonen Jump so I can claim possession of these two great things. I'll let you know how it turns out.

**A/N:** So slow on my updates, well summers almost here, so that might give me some time to write some more. In other news, I finished reading the **_Chrono Crusade _**Manga, and might started watching the Anime next.

* * *

Chapter Five: Mod-Soul Troubles: Part Two

"What happened to my body?!" The young Water Tribe girl screamed in both confusion and frustration when she and Toshiro arrived in the alley. They had just returned from killing another Hollow, only to find a rather large amount of the area to be frozen. Amidst the land glacier, a foggy figure was the young captain's gigai trapped in a center block.

Toshiro slowly approached the block and saw the frozen expression of surprise on his false body's face; he brought a hand up and lightly tapped on the block. A second later the ice shattered, sending chunks and pieces of ice flying all around. Freed from its frozen prison, the gigai dropped to his knees, shivering a bit as it wrapped its arms around itself in an attempt to regain warmth.

"What happened?" Toshiro asked.

"S-s-sumimasen, Hitsugaya-taicho…as soon y-you…as you left…" the gigai began, pausing to take a deep warm breath and attempt to stop shivering. "Katara-san's body…attacked me…and trapped me in the ice before…r-running off…"

Wait, you mean _my _body did this?" Katara asked in irritation before turning her gaze to the white vested boy. "Care to explain, Toshiro…?"

The young captain only sighed, as he inspected one small piece of ice; subliming to his body warmth, rather than melting. "I don't know either, but we should find out before it causes any trouble." Several loud screams broke through the air from the main streets, causing the white haired boy to sigh. "Too late..."

Without hesitation, Katara broke into a sprint and rushed out to the source of the screams as Toshiro and his gigai followed suit. As they left the frozen tundra of the alley, the still subliming ice hissed and cracked, and a section of the wall started to crumble, clearly affected by the sudden change in temperature. When it completely fell apart, three figures now stood in the alley, vaporous mist evaporating at their booted feet. The domed hats and decorative patterns of the robes they wore were very reminiscent of the Dai Li, but were completely different colors.

The shortest of the three wore a dark red robe and hat with black trimmings. The one to his left, who wore a more stylized version for women, wore one that was light blue with silver trimming. The last person to his right was the tallest and more muscular of the three and he wore the original green and gold clothing.

"Hmm…looks like she's having a bad day." The red uniformed man smirked, his hat tipped low enough to cover his eyes.

"Should we make our move now, Xu?" asked the large green clothed man.

"Patience Zhang," the red clothed man raised his hand towards his companion, "we still need to see if Katara has what it takes to be one of us..." he puckered his lips together and let out a low whistle, and the sky above them ripped into an opening, allowing a giant white masked beast to emerge out of the dark mess. "We'll split them up; you keep an eye on the girl while I keep the Shinigami Captain busy." Without saying anything further, he simply walked from the alley and into the streets.

The female member scuffed at his order. "This is a waste of time Xu…we should just recruit her _now, _before the Master arrives in the city."

"Relax Qin, we got plenty of time," Xu's deep voice assured the woman, waving a large hand back at her, "might as well have some fun..."

* * *

A large crowd of spectators gathered around as they watched a young dark skinned girl smirking sinisterly at the three hooligans that stood before her. Pieces of what used to be a sword now laid strewn about at her feet, and two of the thugs took a few fearful steps back. The third one however ran at her, curling his hand into a fist before driving into right in her face.

Without so much as a flinch, the small girl simply tilted her head down a little; letting the brute's fist make contact with her forehead. A noise only synonymous with bones cracking sang out to everyone's ears before the man pulled his fist. He was screaming in pain as his now bleeding fingers were bent every which way. The smirk from the girl's face soon gave way and all that remained was a disappointed scowl.

"Was that it? You gotta be joking." She raised a delicate hand up to the man's face, causing him to stutter in utter fear. "I'll even make it easy for ya…I'll take you down with _one_ finger!" With a simple flick to the man's forehead, her opponent flew backwards into his two cohorts, knocking all three flat on their backs.

In a panic, the two remaining men quickly scrambled to their feet, dragging their unconscious comrade by the arms as they ran off. Whispers and isolated groups of applause soon spread from the crowd of people, but the young chestnut brown haired girl paid them no mind. "That was boring, now what else is there to do…? _Pyon…"_

"I'll tell you what you can do…" A firm hand wrapped around her wrist, and the young girl turned to meet the gaze of her exact likeness dressed in a black robe. "Give me back my body now!" Katara shouted, tightening her grip on the doppelganger's wrist.

With a low growl, the doppelganger formed a fist with her free hand and drove right into Katara's elbow, forcing her to retract her hand to grasp her wound. Before should could react, the Waterbender was kicked in the stomach by her look-alike, and she doubled over in pain before dropping to her knees.

The impostor's lips were pursed into a cocky smirk, but that faded quickly when it spotted another dark robed figure approaching them. "Well, see ya later…_Pyon!"_ It gave Katara a small wave of the hand before dashing off.

"Hold it!" Katara yelled back, struggling to get back to her feet, she weakly lifted herself up as her imposter disappeared in the large crowd of spectators. One old man cocked his head backward as the blue clothed girl jumped over him, but received a heavy smack from the large woman standing next to him—irked at his wandering eyes. Clearly bored with the lack of action, the small crowd began to disperse, returning to whatever they were doing before the fight broke out and the strange mime show that followed.

"Katara, are you alright?" Toshiro landed beside her, and placed a glowing hand on her injured arm.

"I'm fine but…" She darted her eyes to the direction 'herself' had ran, "…what's going on? What's wrong with my body?!"

"That wasn't a Gikongan you used back there, it was clearly a _kaizo konpaku_." He answered, clearly more focused on her injury than answering any questions.

"Kai…what?"

"A Mod-soul..." he quickly translated, "They were modified souls developed by Soul Society to help fight the Hollows. They would be inserted into a corpse, allowing them to use certain abilities—in this case, that Mod-soul currently in your body has superhuman strength—but it looks like it also learned how to Waterbend in a short amount of time."

"You mean to tell me that the Soul Society actually _created _those things? Then why is it-"

"The Mod-soul project proved to be a failure due to ethical reasons…thus all the remaining ones were ordered to be destroyed. Looks like that one was lucky…" The young captain finished on her arm before backing away a few feet, allowing Katara to move it up and down as she regained function. "In any case, let's catch that Mod-soul _before_ it can cause any more harm."

A distant roar caught their ears, and the two Shinigami turned to see a Hollow flying in the other side of the district. "Why now...?" Katara muttered under her breath. "I don't have time to deal with a Hollow right now…"

"No, you don't…I'll take care of the Hollow; you go after the Mod-soul." he said before dashing off the opposite way. She watched him run off until he disappeared over the line of buildings, before taking chase after the Mod-soul. Amongst the large crowd that filled the marketplace, two conspicuously dressed figures watched the Shinigami girl run off.

"Xu's making us waste our time…" The female complained with an irritated sigh, "she seems strong enough, so what's the wait for?!"

"I know what you mean, but until the Master gets here, we have to do what _Xu_ says." The large man assured her as he walked at a calm pace. "Let's just hope that this will be worth the trouble."

"It _damn_ better be..." The woman moaned as she followed her companion.

* * *

The white masked beast roared out in horrid pain, before disintegrating from the lethal wounds it received from the young boy's sword. Toshiro placed his blade onto his back, and allowed its scabbard to reform before releasing his grip on the hilt. Despite haven prevented any damage or injury to the area, Toshiro couldn't help but find the Hollow's sudden appearance strange. In fact, it was timed too perfectly with the moment that he and Katara were about to go after the Mod-soul, forcing them to split up and…

"Someone must have sent out that Hollow to separate us."

His instincts kicked in, warning him of danger near. Cautiously, he reached for the hilt once more and drew it out of the scabbard. "Ok, your plan to divide us worked…what is it that you want?" He turned his head to the figure behind him, who was just leaning against the building wall. Toshiro took notice of the red and black Dai Li attire, but he felt from the unusual spirit pressure he was giving out that he wasn't one of them.

"If you think that it's you that I'm after; think again." The red dressed man pushed himself up from the wall, lifting a hand and removing his hat. His hair was messy and black, with a few strains dangling over his piercing red eyes and the few whiskers growing on his chin. "_We _are after that pretty Shinigami girl you're with…but for that to work, I needed to make sure that you didn't get in our way."

"So does that mean you plan to…" Toshiro kept his eyes on him, cautiously raising his Zanpakuto in a defensive stance, "…kill me?"

The man's lips stretched into an overconfident smirk, so that a few of his teeth showed through. "That would make this a whole lot easier..." In the blink of an eye he pulled off his robes, revealing long black and baggy trousers and his bare chest, and a large scar running from his left shoulder all the way down to his right hip; the white haired boy's eyes immediately widened in surprise though, at the red sword that was strapped to his back.

_A…Zanpakuto…_His thoughts were interrupted as a blade flashed before his eyes; he instantly moved his own and blocked the attack. His attacker pulled back and rushed at him again. He swung his weapon in a blur of successive strikes, but Toshiro blocked them all. The young captain then jumped high into the air, to gain the upper hand in the fight.

"I can do that too…" Xu chuckled to himself. Toshiro barely had to turn himself around and block the incoming swing, then pushed and to gain some distance. "So… like my _Shunpo_?" the man smirked, "We're pretty rude guys, you know? Not caring to introduce ourselves…"

Toshiro remained silent, trying to decide the man's true motive for speaking in a friendly tone. "Tenth Division Captain, Hitsugaya Toshiro."

The man smirked once again before responding, "Second in command of the _Shinzuibendas_…name's Xu."

"S-shinzuibendas?" Toshiro's eyes furrowed at the strange name, unsure of what the man meant by that.

"I can tell from your reaction, that you're a little surprised…you heard right though; I'm just like your little pet…a bender with Shinigami powers!" The smirk on Xu's face remained as he raised his Zanpakuto, pointing the sharp tip directly at him, "If you don't believe me, I'll prove it!" A red aura soon consumed him, blasting increasingly larger amounts of reiatsu towards Toshiro by the second.

"Burn their very existence…_Kazangan-Senshu_!" It was then that Xu felt a cold breeze start to blow against his bare skin. Looking up, he couldn't help but smile.

"Sit upon the frozen heavens…_Hyourinmaru_!"

* * *

**Last words from the Shogun:** Once again, thanks to Typewriterman for his help. I've had fun in writing this chapter, considering the fact that I've introduced three new people into this story.

Translation for Xu's Zanpakuto:

_Kazangan-Senshu_: Lava tyrant.

Looks like I'll have to make a part third for this. But I still enjoyed this chapter. And if you can't guess what kind of bender Xu is, read the chapter again!


	6. ModSoul Troubles: Part Three

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, as well as a new breed of enemies.

**Disclaimer:** Still plotting to over take Nick and Shonen Jump so I can claim possession of these two great things. I'll let you know how it turns out.

**A/N:** The chapter has come! Ladies, form a line to my right for make-outs. Dudes, form a line to my left for high-fives.

* * *

Chapter Six: Mod-Soul Troubles: Part three

The white haired swordsmen breathed heavily, sweat running down his forehead while he had tightened the grip of his weapon, _'Who is this guy?' _He asked himself, bringing his head up to his black haired opponent, who was simply sitting on the roof of the building opposite to his. _'He's a Shinigami no doubt, but also a Firebender. How is that possible?'_

"You finished with your break yet?" The fire controlling Soul Reaper muttered loudly. He had sustained a few frozen wounds from fighting with Toshiro, but was still able to stand normally. "I'd like to kill you now and get back to my job, if you don't mind."

To this, Hitsugaya Toshiro growled, "What do you plan on doing with Katara?"

A small chuckle escaped Xu's lips, "I'd tell ya, but you won't be alive long enough to hear it." Stretching his arm out, fire erupted from his hand; it began growing before molding itself into a sword. Xu suddenly vanished while Toshiro—following his instincts—turned around in time to block the flaming sword from striking him.

"Not bad, Shinigami…" The Firebender complimented with a smirk. The red eyed Shinzuibenda's expression changed to a snarl as the Shinigami's reiatsu suddenly changed, becoming ice cold and making him shiver slightly. Xu jumped back to the adjacent building, turning his gaze to his white haired opponent…

"**BANKAI!"**

The boy's body was consumed in an icy wind, and blew right at Xu, making him wrap his arms around his shirtless body as he tried to use his Firebending powers to keep warm,_ 'Should have kept the robe on.'_

Toshiro floated high above Xu, a pair of crystal ice wings appeared behind him, dwarfed only by the appearance of the huge ice dragon that seemed to manifest from nothingness. _"Daiguran Hyōrinmaru…"_ He spoke softy, hard aqua eyes fixed on Xu, "This ends now."

"Sorry," Xu began as he shot an arm up to the sky, two fingers extended out, "But I really gotta be going." He ran his fingers around him like a clock, a stream of blue light emitting as he did so; he then shot his fingers at the Shinigami, sending a blue lighting bolt at him. The bolt never reached him as the ice dragon around Toshiro soared in front of him, taking the hit.

As it flew out of his view, the Shingami Captain could see that his opponent had disappeared. _'Damn, he got away…'_ The ice dragon around him slowly faded back into nothingness as he sealed away his Bankai before dashing off. _'I've wasted too much time; I _have _to get back to Katara.'_

* * *

The body snatcher paused in its run, gulping down several deep breaths as it leaned against the wall of the cramped alleyways, "Ok, I think I put enough distance between me and her…" Taking another deep breath, she smiled to herself, "Now if I can just get out of this city, I'll be home free…_Pyon_!" A tight hand grasping its shoulder caught the Mod Soul's attention; it pulled her back and towards another set of blue eyes, "Oh crap…"

Katara tightened her grip, not so much that she do harm to her own body, but just enough to make sure the pill shaped thief understood what she was about to say. "You had your fun, but now it's time to give me back my body…_now_!"

"I have a better idea…" The Mod Soul gracefully brought a foot up and smacked the Waterbender Shinigami in the face, causing her to stagger back. Taking advantage of the surprise attack, it used this chance to quickly snatch her water pouch from her, "Ha! What are you gonna do without your water?" opening the pouch, the Mod Soul twirled its fingers as water flowed out of the pouch and around her arm.

With a throbbing pain running through her face, Katara shot her head back up at the Mod Soul, blue eyes shooting a death glare at the fake, "Trust me…" She muttered, wrapping a hand around her sword hilt, "You really don't wanna do that." Ignoring her threat, the false Katara shot her arm out and sent a rushing stream of water right at the Shinigami, but Katara just sighed. "I warned you."

Closing her eyes, Katara tightened her grip on her Zanpakuto, "_Wash away all…_" She started to pull it out slowly, but then pull it out entirely just as the water was about to strike her… "_KAIYOU DANSHAKU!"_

The once hardened steel Zanpakuto suddenly turned into hundreds of little water droplets, and merged with the rushing water. Katara raised a hand and pulled the water away from the Mod Soul, causing the Mod Soul's jaw to hang helplessly before Katara shot the water right back at it. The force of the attack sent it slamming into the wall before the water froze in its place, trapping the Mod Soul in a prison of ice.

Katara walked up to the captured body snatcher, and moved her hand across the ice, instantly melting it and letting the Mod Soul drop to the floor "You lost. Now give me back my body." The Mod Soul looked up into her eyes; it then turned its head away from her with a pout.

"No…"

"I'm _not _giving you a choice..."

"I don't care," the body pouted even more, "I'm _not_ getting out!"

Katara sighed again. "Then I'll make you."

It turned back to her with a mocking smirk, "Do you know how?"

Katara opened her mouth to say something but couldn't. She really _didn't_ know how to the get the crazy pill out of her. She closed her mouth and crossed her arms, her eyes shut as she tried to think of something. "No, but I know someone who does…" She smirked back as the Mod Soul stuck its tongue out at her, and exhaled loudly in reaction. "Grow up."

* * *

Two figures, dressed in two different colored domed hats and robes, watched the two girls from high above the district walls.

"What do you think Zhang, should we just knock her out and take her back to the Dai Li headquarters?" Asked the female figure.

"Xu said we're not supposed to make a move, just observe." The larger green clothed man responded. He frowned as he heard a low whistle coming from the woman, "What are you doing, Qin?"

"Relax big guy, just making this a little more fun..."

* * *

Though it was low, Katara's adept ears caught the low whistle in the distance. _'What was…?' _Her thought was interrupted as the sky above ripped open. The two watched as a giant white masked beast emerged from the rip. Before coming down on them, they quickly jumped out of harm's way as the blowing dust and debris exploded outwards upon landing.

The Mod-Soul jumped to its feet, stretched out its hands at the puddle across from her to freeze the Hollow's feet, but nothing happened. "Hey, why can't I Waterbend?!"

"Because my Zanpakuto is in control of the water!" Katara called out as she now stood beside it, "I'm the only that can fight, so stay back!"

"Whatever, I don't _need_ no stinking water!" The Mod-Soul broke into a sprint, running straight at the towering Hollow. Katara ran as well in an effort to stop it.

The Hollow howled out before swiping a claw at the fake, but the Mod-Soul jumped over the attack and landed right before the beast. It curled its fingers tightly before driving them right into the Hollow's face, sending the Hollow flying into a wall.

The Hollow pulled itself out of the rubble, turning its eyeless gaze back at the attack. _**"You'll pay for that!" **_It rushed at the Mod-Soul, rearing its claws back for another swipe. The Mod-Soul was about to attack again, but Katara jumped in at the last second, swiping the thing in the face with a water whip. The Hollow jumped back howling in pain, a bit of blood gushed out from the gash around its masked face.

Katara instantly grabbed the Mod-Soul by the arm before running off. "We got to go, _now_!" She knew that she could beat the Hollow, but with her real body in danger, she didn't want to risk it. Pulling her look-alike along, the two ran out of the alley as the Hollow gave chase.

They ran out of the alley just as the Hollow smashed the buildings flanking it as it emerged, and dust blew towards the people who witnessed the sudden inexplicable collapse just as the two girls—well, in reality they only _saw_ one—ran through the crowd.

"Let…_go_ of me!" The Mod-Soul screamed before pulling its hand away from Katara, "I told you that I can _handle_ that thing!"

"Not when you're using _my_ body, so _forget_ it!" Katara protested.

Before the Mod-Soul could snap back, a giant shadow loomed over the two; they turned to see a giant claw coming down of them. They jumped out of the way as it came down, smashing through the ground and sending a few people running in all directions. Landing on her feet, Katara extended her hand out as a stream of water wrapped itself around her arm.

The Hollow turned towards her and charged, but Katara shot a hand out, sending the water straight at it and wrapped it around its feet before freezing it. The Hollow tried to pull itself out but to no avail, just as Katara was about to finish it off, she saw flying feet connect with the thing's face. It had enough force to knock the thing from its frozen position (as well as ripping it from its feet) and smashing into a building, sending it to the ground as panicked civilians ran away from the crash.

Katara watched in amazement at the Mod-Soul's superhuman strength, but that quickly faded when she saw it use said strength to jump up towards the roof tops and start running off. "Damn it!" She scoffed under her breath as she re-sheathing her Zanpakuto before giving chase.

* * *

"Oh yeah, _that's_ how I got into this mess…" The young Shinigami rolled her eyes in slight embarrassment at the events that took place today; she chuckled slightly at the thought that this whole thing might take place in three chapters if anyone ever did a story on her life. Pushing that thought aside, she continued forward as her look-alike jumped of the roofs and was now crossing a small bridge ahead.

Katara jumped off the roof tops as well, but instead of heading towards the bridge, she ran and jump down to the waters below, "Wash away all…"

The Mod-Soul stopped in its tracks halfway across the bridge, what stopped it was the massive tidal wave rushing towards it. It started to swirl around it before freezing over, trapping it in a frozen prison, "…nuts…" it moaned in defeat just as Katara jumped before it.

"There isn't any point in running…you can't get away from me again." She said sternly.

"I know…" The Mod-Soul turned its head away from the girl, eyes unfocused on anything specific before it. "But it's not like I had much of a choice anyway..." Katara noticed that it curled its hand into a fist, but felt no ill will from the action. "In my pill form, all I could do was to wait for Soul Society to kill me; just like the rest of them...I wasn't scared because I knew that I couldn't do anything about it. But that's then all this happened."

"…You thought you might have a chance when you took over my body, didn't you?" Katara asked softly.

"Yeah, but hey, look where that got me…" A single tear ran down its check. "I'm tried of running…so why don't you just follow your orders and kill me now, will ya?"

Before Katara could respond, she caught sight of another black robbed person approaching the Mod-Soul, his sword drawn out. She quickly stepped between the two of them, with arms crossed out. The action definitely took the Mod-Soul by surprise. "Shiro, wait!"

"Katara, Soul Society gave the order to destroy any and _all _Mod-Souls." Toshiro told her unceremoniously, "Why are you trying to protect _this_ one? It's nothing more than a fake soul."

"No!" The Shinigami captain's eyes widened from the girl's response, "This may be something Soul Society created, but it's _still_ a living being. What gives you the right to take away another life?!"

"Katara…"

"If you want to kill it," She knew she was standing up to a captain, but yet she didn't care, despite that fact that her eyes were shut from what she was about to say next. "You'll have to kill me too."

The Mod-Soul shut its eyes as well, waiting for what probably was the end. Instead, the only thing the two heard was the sound of a sword clicking back into its scabbard. Katara was the first to open her eyes, "Shiro…?"

His face was un-emotive, but she saw a distinct sigh escape his lungs. He turned around, and began walking away from the two. "Whatever that thing does, it's your responsibility, got it?" Toshiro said without looking back.

There was a moment of silence before a joyous squeal erupted from the Mod-Soul, "I GET TO LIVE!!" It wrapped its arms around Katara, not paying attention to the amount of pressure she was applying, "THANK YOU, KATARA-SAMA!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK…YOU!!"

"_You're…welcome…_" Katara gasped as she tired to pull herself out of the thing's grasp.

"…PYON…!!"

* * *

"Xu isn't gonna be too happy about this, Qin." The large man said as he and the woman with him stood over the rubble that was once a building, "You really overstepped your boundaries this time..."

"Like I give a damn." The woman sat atop the rubble, her dome hat resting on her lap as her shoulder length chestnut hair blew slightly from the cool breeze. "We'll just tell him that a stray Hollow came and did this, no harm done."

"…Is that so…"

Their breath escaped both of them, and they turned fearfully at the sight of the shorter red clothed man standing before them. Nearly emotionless red eyes stared back at the two. "…Qin, why am I _not _surprised that this was somehow your fault?"

"L-look Xu…" Qin's voice was shaking, and sweat beamed down her forehead upon making eye contact with the man, "I can explain…you know…me and Zhang…"

"Don't drag me into this woman!" Zhang barked, not wanting to get scowled at by his Firebending superior.

"Just shut up, both of you." Xu ordered, "I was going to make our move on Katara now, but seeing as _you two_ messed up here, we're gonna have to postpone that idea." He walked past the two, sending a shiver down their spines, especially Qin. "But I gotta admit…that girl just might help us along in our cause. Right now, there are only two things standing in the way."

"And what are they?" Zhang asked nervously.

"That Shinigami Captain…and the Avatar."

* * *

**Last words from the Shogun: **

Feel like that Mod-Soul won't get a name and a plushie body? Don't worry, it will in the next chapter (This one is long enough as it is).


	7. The Shinzuibendas

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, as well as a new breed of enemies.

**Disclaimer:** Still plotting to over take Nick and Shonen Jump so I can claim possession of these two great things. I'll let you know how it turns out.

**A/N:** There is…nothing to tell…

* * *

Chapter Seven: The Shinzuibendas

The small living room of the house was quiet and empty, save for the white haired boy who sat quietly at the table. A steaming pot of tea and a small teacup upon the table before him, yet he was focused on the small black butterfly that rested on the tip of his index finger.

"Relay this message to Kurotsuchi-Taicho at the Shinigami Research Institute: I need him to provide any information regarding _Shinzuibendas_." The butterfly hovered off Toshiro's finger before flying out of view. He lowered his head in thought, hands folded and placed underneath his chin. His confrontation with the Firebender named Xu and what he said still played in his mind…

"_I can tell from your reaction, that you're a little surprised…you heard right though; I'm just like your little pet…a bender with Shinigami powers!"_

'_Shinzuibendas…what exactly are they?'_ He thought quietly to himself, _'and what do they want with Katara?'_

"_**GI CHOMP!!"**_

He was unaffected by the small doll's sudden attack. Or by the biting action on his head, instead he lifted a hand and grabbed the thing by its leg and held it upside down before him. "Gi, what did I tell you about that?" He sighed in a stoic voice before he dropped the possessed doll onto the table.

The small doll jumped back to its stuffed feet, and brushed its plushy body as it recovered from the fall. Dressed in a woman's Earth Kingdom styled dress, as its brown with black striped body resembled a cat with its six fake whiskers on its plain face, two pointy ears with two black strips on each one, and a pair of black toy eyes, "One of these days Powder-Chan, I will chomp your head off in triumph…_Pyon_!" the doll screeched.

Toshiro simply mumbled to himself, and rolled his eyes from the empty threat. It had been about a week since this Mod-Soul moved in. Katara had found its current body on the street a few days ago, and she even named the thing after the Gikongan that it came from.

'_How does Ichigo deal with this?'_

The sound of an opening door caught his attention, and with smooth precision, he quickly grabbed the doll and stuffed it into his vest pocket. Gi muffled and wiggled around for a bit, but a quick bonk from Toshiro silenced it. He turned to the door as it opened, and a certain chestnut-haired girl entered the room.

"Hey Shiro." Katara called happily as she walked in, "So, have you and Gi been getting along?" Before the boy could answer, said stuffed toy jumped from his pocket and dashed towards the dark skinned girl.

"KATARA-SAMA!!" The cat like Mod-Soul jumped and latched onto a surprised Katara, its small arms stretched out as far as they could. "Powder-Chan was mean to me!!"

"I was being mean? You're the one who tried to eat my head..." Toshiro retorted lowly, "You're not going to take its side, are you?"

Prepared to rebuttal, Gi was stopped when Katara cupped a hand over its mouth, "Actually, I was wondering if you want to come out to town with me and the others. You _really_ need to socialize more."

"I'm not really that much of a social person..." he excused, "Besides I'm-"

A sudden glow from the girl's pocket interrupted Toshiro mid-sentence. Katara turned to Gi, who immediately saluted and jumped into her pocket. Seconds later, it emerged with a skull shaped necklace in hand, but then a small green pill popped out of its mouth and it fell lifelessly to the floor, necklace in tow.

"We'll finish this later." Was all Katara said before placing the pill in her mouth, the almost familiar force ejected her while her body coughed violently. Without a second glance back, the now black robed girl raced out the door.

Toshiro remained silent for a moment, the face of the renegade Firebender in his forethoughts, "This could be _his_ doing." He pulled out a small container from his pocket, pressing a button on the bottle top before swallowing the small pill that came out. A similar surge pushed him out as well, revealing his own black robe and white vest uniform. "You two, stay here until I get back." He ordered Gi and the Replacement Soul before running out the door.

"…Baka! Who does _he_ think I _am? Pyon!_" With a scoff, the female Mod-Soul made her way towards the door.

"Hey! Hitsugaya-Taicho said to stay here!" The Gigai called out, in an attempt to stop her, but one quick death glance from Gi made it stop in its place.

"…Hmph…Thought so..." With a victorious smirk, Gi walked out the door before shutting it behind her.

* * *

Night had fallen over the city now. As she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, her attire blew and ruffled in the wind with every leap she made. Upon landing on a rooftop, Katara stopped in her run and looked around the area, "That's strange…I could've sworn I felt the Hollow's presence here…But where is it?"

"It's already dead." The voice from behind her caused Katara to turn around sharply. Standing there was a short figure, dressed in a red and black print of the Dai Li uniform. The rim of the red domed hat he wore was lowered to cover his eyes, but Katara could still see the smirk that was stretched across his face.

"Shinigami Katara, I must say…" He tipped his hat up, allowing her to see his red eyes, "…You're a_ lot_ prettier up close..."

Ignoring the comment, Katara wrapped a hand around her Zanpakuto, ready to draw it out if needed, "Who are you?"

The man raised his hands up innocently while slowly walking towards her, to show he was harmless. "The name's Xu, and all I want is to see how well you fight." In the blink of an eye, Xu had pulled out a red hilted sword from his robes before charging at Katara. She quickly unsheathed her own weapon and blocked his blade, tightening her grip on the weapon, and tried to push the man back. Xu simply broke the deadlock before stepping back.

"Quick on the draw, I see…now, let's try something else..." The man named Xu raised his Zanpakuto up as his body was consumed in a red aura. Katara could sense the massive amount of spiritual pressure coming from him by the second, "Burn their very existence…_Kazangan-Senshu_!" Black smoke rose from the blade, until the blade itself had completely dissipated into the air along with it, which the man inhaled with a deep breath.

He stretched his hand outwards, sending a massive stream of fire rushing towards her. Katara managed to jump down to the empty city streets below to avoid the blast of heat, but Xu quickly followed her down as well. "You're a Firebender?!" She asked in disbelief, "Does that mean the Fire Nation…"

"…I'm not with the Fire Nation—well I used to be, but that was _before_ I got these powers..." Xu's wide grinned smirk remained on his face as he slowly approached Katara again. "…Before I became a _Shinzuibenda_, just like you..."

"Shinzuibenda?" She took a step back, her grip on her weapon tightening. "What do you mean? I'm nothing like you!"

"No Katara," he chuckled softly, "you and I are both very much the same. We're Benders with Shinigami powers. Have you ever tried to bend without your Zanpakuto? It's impossible as hell, isn't it?" The Firebender chuckled slightly louder to himself before continuing.

"But the two of us aren't the _only_ ones, you know. My two comrades are in the city somewhere…I just wanted to come to you _personally_." He took one last step, brought up a hand to remove his hat to reveal his messy black hair. "Katara, we've been watching you since the incident in the desert, waiting for your Shinigami powers to awaken and see how strong you could become...weeks passed since you came here to the city, and I just got tired of waiting and decided to take matters into my own hands."

Puckering his lips, Xu let out a low whistle that almost went unheard by Katara. With an alien-like zipping sound, the sky above them began to crack, and a giant Hollow emerged from it, landing next to Xu. "_The Hollow Whistle_…a unique skill, only we Shinzuibendas posses. With this, we can call forth a few Hollows and have them do our bidding. So I decided to send one of them your way before..."

"…send one my way?" Sudden realization smacked her in the face, and her lips formed into a furious snarl "_You're_ the one who sent that Hollow that almost killed Aang!!"

"Correct, but not before I gave you that necklace the same day." He could feel the girl's reiatsu rising with her anger, so he decided to continue, "All I had to do was dress up like some old geezer, and sell ya the same necklace that my comrades and I used to get _our_ powers. Then came the Hollow…pretty cool plan, huh?"

A sudden gust of wind blew out at him, he looked into her eyes, and unbelievable rage flowed in them as she raised her weapon. Katara rushed at Xu as the Hollow lunged at her, only to be slice in half as she ran past its disintegrating body. She swung her blade from the side, aiming for his mid-section, but Xu easily jumped over her and landed behind her, "This doesn't seem fair, I'll be nice and make it." He muttered before running off.

"Stop!" Katara chased after him, her teeth gritted in anger as she remembered what happen to her friends the day she became a Shinigami, _'Everything that happened to them...its all his fault...I won't let him get away!'_

* * *

"Zuko, would you care for some tea?" Iroh asked his nephew as he warmed the small finely decorated pot on the stove with his hands.

"Uncle, we've been working in the teashop _all_ day…I'm sick of it…." The young prince moaned from his place at the window, starring up at the sky without turning his head to the older man.

"Sick of tea? How can you be _sick_ of tea?! That's like being sick of _breathing_!"

Zuko simply ignored him and continued to gaze out the window. He noticed something in the night sky; a flying animal of some sort. His golden eyes squinted in an effort to make it out. _'What is that?' _

"Uncle, do you know what that is?"

Curious, the older man stuck his head out the window and looked up, his golden eyes widened in shock, "We have to get out, now!" He grabbed his nephew by the arm, pulling him along as he raced for the door.

"Uncle, what's goi-" The force of the wall exploding interrupted the young prince's question, as the two stumbled from the massive quake that followed soon after, and sent them both falling to the floor. Zuko managed to get to his knee, coughing a bit from the dust that blew in after the crash; he turned his head to what was once the wall of their small apartment, but he saw something he couldn't describe.

Blinking a few times, he could see a blurry image before him, ruffling through the room in a rush, "What is…" As it started to slowly clear, Zuko let out a gasp as he saw the monstrous hand.

"So, you can see it as well, Prince Zuko?" Iroh slowly pulled himself up to his feet as he grabbed onto to the boy's arm and pull him up.

"Uncle…" He couldn't find that words to put what he was seeing, his eyes slowly looked across the room, only to witness what looked like a white masked creature of some sort, "W-What _is_ that thing?"

"A Hollow, which is all you need to know for now….Now let's go!!" The older Firebender pushed through the doors and out the halls with Zuko following close behind. The other residents of the building rushed out of their homes after the sudden crash, panicking as another crash rang through the halls. The two Firebenders (As well as the other inhabitants) managed to get out to the streets just before the building collapsed. Dust blew from the sudden collapse, and people ran through the streets in an effort to get away from debris and whatever could have caused it.

"Are you alright, Prince Zuko?" Iroh muttered quietly so no one could hear, his hand covering his nose from the dust.

"I'm fine." Zuko coughed a bit from the dust, "But what's going on?"

An unearthly cry rang in their ears, followed by a massive form hitting the ground. As the dust cleared, the two saw the once menacing Hollow on the ground just before them, its head sliced clean from its body before it just seemed to disintegrate into nothing. A lone figure, with a green hilted sword in hand, now stood where the creature had just vanished, his big and muscular body covered in the green and gold Dai Li attire, the dome hat covering his features.

"I'm surprised…" The person spoke, his voice clearly that of a male, "When Xu said that the Dragon of the West and the banished Fire Nation prince were in the city, I didn't really believe him..." Raising his hand, the large man removed his hat, revealing his completely shaven head and brown eyes to the two standing before him, "But…by just looking at you two, I can see he was right."

Zuko growled and was about to take a step forward, but was stopped when Iroh stepped in front of him, "Who are you?" The old man asked. His shoulders tensed as he looked into the man's eyes.

The green clothed giant grinned before plunging his weapon to the ground. "Just so you'll know when you die, my name is Zhang." He rested his hand on the flat top of his hilt, and with one powerful push, drove the thing deep into the ground, "Bury them six feet under…_Ishiakuma_!"

* * *

The sound of a collapsing building caught the Airbender's ears, "That didn't sound good." Turning towards the direction of the source, Aang could see a massive cloud of dust rising above the city, "What's happening over there?"

"Aang!" Turning around, Aang could see both Toph and Sokka running towards him. When the two finally reached him, Sokka rested his hands on his knees as he took in several breaths. "You have _any _idea about what's going on over there?"

"No, but we better get going and find out. Where's Katara?" Aang asked.

"We don't know." Toph answered, "She and Chin aren't back at the house."

Looking back to where the large dust cloud was rising, Aang grunted underneath his breath, "We just better hope they aren't _there_...Come on!"

"…You're not going anyway..."

The three froze as a fourth figure instantly appeared between Aang and the others; the Avatar took a quick glance at the person and could see her dressed in a blue version of the Dai Li robe and hat. Turning his eyes downwards, he also could see a blue hilted sword grasped in her hand. A small pouch slipped out of her sleeve and to the ground, which exploded and sent water splashing everywhere.

"Drown the heathens…_Rikiddomoui_!"

The weapon in hand instantly turned to nothing more then drops of water, falling to the ground and merging with the puddle left over. Before anyone could react, the woman shot an arm out towards Aang as a long stream of water shot out, and slowly formed into a circular dome. With a delicate hand, the woman held the bottom of the dome as its captive struggled to break free. "Don't even bother, Avatar..." Gripping her hand slightly, the woman used the water dome itself crush Aang. His body fell limp in his prison before he coughed up a bit of blood.

"AANG!" Yelling in usion, Sokka and Toph charged the woman, but she simply scoffed before letting out a low whistle. The two stopped halfway in their charge as a rip in the sky appeared above them. Something started to emerge from it, and landed beside the strange woman. Sokka could see (while Toph just sensed) that it was a fierce looking white masked creature of some sort.

"The names Qin, and I have no time to deal with you _mortals_..." With a snap of her fingers, the white masked monster lunged at the two before the woman instantly disappeared along with Aang.

"Stop!" Sokka shouted before being pulled back Toph, jumping out of the way as the masked creature swiped a claw at them.

"We'll get Aang back, Sokka." The blind Earthbender grunted while placing her feet firmly on the ground. She and the boy came face to face with the beast in front of them, keeping her face straight because of the seriousness of the situation. "Right now, we have a bigger problem..."

* * *

He stood in the center of the bridge, his arms crossed as his red robes fluttered in the wind. A presence appeared behind him, and his lips pursed. "Took ya long enough." Xu turned around and met the blue eyed gaze of the girl standing before him, "See? Now the playing field is even..." He said calmly, stretching an arm over the waters below them, "…now you can use _your_ element, and I can use _mine_..."

Katara bit down her lower lip, knowing that there was something about this guy that irritated her. The way he just stood his ground calmly, the way he told her what he did to her friends while keeping that aggravating smirk on his face, as well as the way he just looked at her with said smirk. "Your not getting away with what you did Xu!"

"So…what are you going to do about it?" He asked mockingly, "Kill me? I'd like to see that."

Her Reiatsu increased along with her anger as she raised her weapon over her head, "Wash away all…_Kaiyou Danshaku_!"

* * *

**Last Words from the Shogun:**

And now…

_**TRANSLATION TIME!**_

_Ishiakuma: _Stone Fiend

_Rikidoomoui: _Liquid Menace

_Shinzuibendas:_ Spirit Bender

And that's all I have to say about that!


	8. Earth vs Ash & Fire

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, as well as a new breed of enemies.

**Disclaimer:** Still plotting to over take Nick and Shonen Jump so I can claim possession of these two great things. I'll let you know how it turns out.

**A/N:** Avatar Season Three is coming on September 21 incase you didn't know.

* * *

Chapter Eight: Earth vs. Ash & Fire

He let out a low grunt as he jumped down from his rooftop position to the empty city streets, sensing several spiritual energies as he made his way towards the nearest to him. His black uniform robe and overlapping white vest fluttered loudly from the speed of his Shunpo, _'One of these energies is clearly Xu's, but I don't recognize the other ones, it must be his two partners.' _An unearthly howl stopped him in his tracks, and he looked up to see a Hollow right above him.

The white masked monstrosity lunged down on him, but Toshiro effortlessly managed to jump back in time. It was just too perfect; the timing of this Hollow's appearance couldn't have been more precise—as if it was_ told_ to attack him, "You were summoned by the Shinzuibendas, weren't you?" Rather then answer him, the Hollow charged him again, however….

"Powwwwwderrrrrrr-chaaaaannnn!"

A flying drop kick from a certain pill possessed body connected with the Hollow's masked face, sending it flying back towards the ground. Toshiro sighed in disbelief as the female Mod-Soul landed beside him, "Didn't I tell you to _stay _at the house Gi?" He breathed out with an all too used up tone of exasperation.

"Silly Powder-chan!" The girl pouted with astonished disbelief, "The only person I listen to is Katara-sama, not _you_…_Pyon!_" Gi replied harshly.

Before he could retort, the distraught moaning of the Hollow caught his ear, and as he and Gi turned to see the creature return to its feet, it turned its eyeless gaze at the two before charging at them again with a roar. They jumped to opposite sides as it swung a claw down of them, leaving a giant slash marking on the ground. The Shinigami Captain grabbed the hilt of his Zanpakuto and unsheathed it in the blink of an eye, "Sit upon the frozen heavens…_Hyourinmaru_!"

Skidding on the ground after her jump, friction brought Gi to a stop to which she sought to jump at the Hollow again, only to see it disintegrate as a giant ice dragon soared around Toshiro, _'Hmph…showoff.' _She scoffed to herself. A demonic cry rang above her, and Gi looked up to meet the eyeless sockets of a second Hollow aiming to crash down on her. Tightening the muscles of her legs, she braced herself to take it head on…

"Growl…_Haineko_!"

Before she could do anything, a black stream of dust appeared from the sky and surrounded the Hollow, floating about right before the Mod-Soul's eyes, without warning, the Hollow was immediately sliced into bits before vanishing into nothingness. Gi stared wide eyed and confused before a soft set of feet landed down in front of her. With long Strawberry-blonde hair and light blue eyes, she wore the standard Shinigami attire, but had a purple scarf wrapped around her shoulders. Not to mention that her robe shamefully showed her…assets.

'_D-damn…' _Gi winced at the sight.

"Taicho," The woman called to Toshiro, "I'm so sorry to keep you waiting..."

"Not to worry Matsumoto, I'm just glad you got here." Before the Mod-Soul knew it, the white haired Shinigami Captain was standing beside her, causing her to jump in surprise, Toshiro chose to ignore the girl's random exclamation and turned toward the woman. "Did Kurotsuchi-Taicho find anything on the Shinzuibendas?"

"Not yet. The Shinigami Research Institute as well as all of 12th Division are still looking through the archives. They'll need more time to-"

"POWDER-BAKA!!" An impatient Gi shouted into the boy's ear, his eyebrow twitched with slight fury as she did so, "WHO THE HELL IS THIS BIG CHESTED WOMAN?! WHAT ARE THESE _SHINZUIBENDAS_?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

Confused, Matsumoto looked between the dark skinned girl and her captain before asking, "Uh…Taicho, is she this _Katara_ girl you mentioned in your report?"

"Her body, yes…but the one controlling her right now is just a Mod-Soul…and an _annoying _one at that." Toshiro took a graceful step back as said Mod-Soul tried to drive her fist into his face. Fortunately, the taller woman managed to grab and pull the pill possessed body back from assaulting her Captain any further.

"LET…GO OF ME!!" She squirmed and struggled a bit before freeing herself from the Shinigami woman's grasp, "Who the hell are _you, _anyways?!"

"10th Division Vice-captain, Matsumoto Rangiku." The strawberry-blonde answered the rude girl with a hint of annoyance in her voice, due to the way the pill was speaking, "And who are you?"

"I'm Gi; Katara-sama's Kaizo Konpaku!" The fake Katara replied, pounding her chest proudly. Satisfied with one of her questions being answered, Gi's crystal blue eyes glanced back to the smaller, white haired boy with whom she was more familiar with. "Anyways, what about these Shinzuibendas? Who or what are they…? _Pyon_?"

Before anyone could answer her questions, the spirit pressure from before returned. Toshiro grunted as he recognized two of those energies, "I'll explain later…Matsumoto, Gi, split up and stop the Shinzuibendas! We can't let them cause any more damage!" He soon took off towards the first two spirit powers while Gi and Rangiku glanced at each other. With silent agreement, the girls issued a truce by simply nodding their heads, and took off in opposite directions.

The Reiatsu of his Waterbending ally was coming from the other side of the city, and quite unfortunately, Toshiro knew that the other one was the Firebender, _'Xu...if you hurt Katara…I'll…'_

* * *

The force of the blow was _more_ than enough to have the two Firebenders smack into the wall back first. The green clothed man grinned, "It looks like coming to this city was a mistake…." Zhang raised both of his hands, causing two giant pillars of rock to arise from either side of Iroh and Zuko. "And it's also your last!" Swiftly he clapped his hands together, forcing the pillars to rush towards one another, as his opponents were caught in the middle.

The two however saw the attack coming and were able to jump out of the way just as the pillars collided with a crash. Zuko rushed at the enemy again, but Zhang thrusted a hand out, sending a wave of earth towards him. The prince managed to jump over it, and upon landing, he swept a foot across in a wide arc, creating a large stream of fire that went straight for the Earthbender.

Simply raising his other hand, Zhang caused the ground around him to rise and form a defensive wall, one that the fire couldn't breach. Just as Zuko got back to his feet, the stone wall around Zhang shattered, sending pieces of rock flying in all directions. Zuko managed to duck underneath an incoming rock, but he couldn't stop the giant man from appearing behind him with blinding speed and smacking him in the back of the head, his unconscious body hitting the ground hard as a result.

"Zuko!" The older Firebender rushed at the green clothed brute, throwing several small fireballs at him, but Zhang easily dodged the attack before charging back. As he came within two feet, he shot his arms out in front of him, and a large boulder rose from the ground and smashed into Iroh, catching him off guard and sending him flying back into the wall.

The moaning of the younger boy caught Zhang's ears. He turned around and found Zuko, who had just rolled onto his stomach and struggling back to his feet. "Sorry Prince…" Zhang materialized before Zuko again, kicking him the gut and sending him on his back once more. Stomping his foot, a large stone jumped into the air, which he caught with ease before starting to crush it in his hand.

From within the rock, green crystals shone and reflected the light, as the stone around it disintegrated into sand and dust. He released his grip, and the once hard and rough stone was now a green razor-sharp diamond, ready for its purpose. "…Now you die!" He shouted before driving his jagged weapon down on Zuko.

A heavy resistance interrupted his attack, as black dust suddenly wrapped itself around his hand. Zhang pulled his hand back out of it as the diamond he once had quickly dissolved into nothing. A deep scowl appeared on his face as he snarled softly. _'That wasn't the ice Zanpakuto that Xu told us about.' _He slowly turned around, and came eye to eye with a strawberry-blonde haired woman, "And who might you be?"

"10th Division Vice-Captain, Matsumoto Rangiku." The substance from before formed around the bare hilt in the Shinigami woman's hands, molding itself back into sharp steel as she raised the sword at him, "On Soul Society's orders, you are to surrender at once." The only response Rangiku received was a slight chuckle from her opponent.

"You think you can stop me? How humorous." With a stomp of his foot, a small pillar of rock about half his height rose up from the ground. He gave the stone three precise hand chops, exploding the rock as pieces flew every which way. All that was left was a giant sword shaped made out of green crystals as hard as diamond; he grasped the diamond blade's hilt before finally pulling the blade out of the ground. With a whoosh from slicing the air, he swung the giant weapon around and over his head before slipping into a fighting stance.

Pushing off from her rear leg, Rangiku lunged at the large man, swinging her weapon down on him. But Zhang effortlessly parried the attack. She then tried to swing for his head, but the large man ducked under the blade and slapped his palm to the ground. The earth under Rangiku's feet shifted slightly and caused her to lose her footing, allowing Zhang to use this chance to uppercut her in the jaw, sending her two feet up before delivering a direct punch to her gut and crash back to the ground.

"You can't beat me Shinigami…not while the entire battlefield is on my side!" Zhang laughed before turning to Zuko, who was still struggling to get onto his feet, "I'll deal with you in minute." He raised a hand, upon which the Earth around the prince quickly moved to consume his legs. The teen struggled hard to free himself as the Earthbender turned back to his Shinigami opponent.

"Growl…_Haineko_!"

He watched as the woman's blade dissipated itself into—what he assumed it to be at this point—ash and fly at him. "Not this time!" Placing his crystallized weapon in front of him, he struck the diamond blade with a hard opened palm, causing it to shatter into several tiny pieces. Using his Earthbending, he manipulated the pieces to fly towards Rangiku, bypassing the ashes all together. She managed to dodge and was about to counterattack, but something grabbing her foot. She quickly looked down in reaction and saw the ground under her begin to cover her whole foot, trapping her in place.

'_Damn!' _She cursed to herself, struggling to free her restrained foot, _'He seems to be able to have control of the earth…I can't break free!' _A sharp pain ran through her side, as though something had pierced her skin. She glanced downwards and realized that a sharpened stone had lodged itself in her right thigh, blood dripped freely as she groaned softly.

"To think that you would fall for such a simple trap." Zhang slowly approached the woman, using his hand to gather three sharp stones from the ground, "Now, you're finished!" In the blink of an eye he whipped the three rocks at her, each targeting her head, heart and stomach for a vicious kill.

Three small balls of fire intercepted the stones, the intense heat and equal velocity destroying them in small explosions. Surprised, Zhang turned to see the young prince with his right arm cocked inwards for another attack. "…I thought you said that you were going to kill me…." Zuko breathed out.

Zhang merely scoffed at the teen. "You're quite the nuisance, aren't you, Prince?" He bent down, resting the palm of his hand on the ground again, "Maybe this will shut you up!" The intense pain of his legs being crushed by the earth around them surged through Zuko's body, shocking his entire system with the feeling. Yet he struggled to keep himself from screaming by biting down on his lip. Grinning, Zhang applied more pressure onto his legs, but the prince still held strong, "Pretty soon you won't be able to walk…just scream for me and I'll le-"

The sudden spike of energy coming from Zuko stopped his taunting right then; the boy's body was consumed in a red aura, and its increasing density—indicated by the cracks running along the cast of earth on his legs—was enough to have the man sweat profusely, _'This reiatsu…its unbelievable...how is he doing this…' _He watched, astonished as the earth around the teenager's legs give way to the spirit pressure and shatter into millions of tiny pieces.

'_Impossible!' _Zhang just stood there, waiting to see if the boy would attack him, but what was left was a whimper of spirit energy, Zuko exhaled and dropped to the ground once again. Suspicious of a trick, Zhang refrained from attacking, but Zuko's unconscious form just lay there. _'Using that much power must have worn him out. This could be my chance.' _He curled his hand into a fist, and drove into the ground. A massive boulder shot out, soaring up into the air before coming down like a mortar directly on top of Zuko.

A cloud of ash appeared around the boulder, wrapping and grinding about it until there was nothing more than harmless dust and sand. With a grunt, the man saw from the corner of his eye to find the woman standing before him, the ash of her Zanpakuto swirling above her. "This ends now."

"You still think you can beat me in your state?" He grinned, but his smirk quickly vanished when he spotted a ball of fire coming at him from corner of his other eye. He spun around to dodge the flaming sphere, to see the older Firebender from before standing there, his head soaked in blood and breathing heavily. Hesitantly, Zhang grunted, "This fight is yours…Shinigami…" He clenched his hands and slammed them into the ground, a green hilted sword rose from ground before him. Immediately grasping the hilt in his hand, Zhang crumpled it in size before finally withdrawing into his robes as if by a black hole, disappearing from sight.

Rangiku knew she was exhausted, so all she could was watch as the man vanished. She let out a small sigh of relief before letting her weapon revert back to its original form and sliding it back into its scabbard. Sighing as well, Iroh limped slowly to his unconscious nephew, and with a tired grunt he bent down and lifted him up, his limp arm hug over his shoulder. "Thank you for your assistance, Lady Shinigami…." He said to her, bowing his head reverently.

Rangiku nodded before vanishing with her own shunpo, beyond normal human speeds. As he laid Zuko down into an empty cart full of hay, the Dragon of the West could feel her reiatsu heading east, most likely the same direction as the Earthbender, _'It's most likely that there are more of those men, I betting get Zuko someplace safe.'_

"…U-uncle…"

His voice was faint and hoarse, but audible nonetheless "Don't try to talk, Prince Zuko…" Iroh said softly to his nephew, "…just focus on resting and recovering yourself."

"Uncle…what was all that…about…"

The old man remained silent for a moment, "…It seems I have much explaining to do."

* * *

**Last Words from the Shogun:**

Once again, another interesting arc in the story broken into several chapters; how many this time, you ask? Four at best.

**Chin: **At least you're doing_ something_.

**Ping: **Amen to that!

Wha? What are you two doing here?

**Ping: **Well, we were bugging Typewriterman into doing Avatar fics again, with Season Three just around the corner and all...

**Chin:** …And it kind of got to the point where he got so annoyed that he…kicked us out…

**Ping:** So we decided to stay with you for awhile.

Fine, just don't do the same thing to me; I have a life you know.

**Chin:** Haha….riiiiiight….

**Ping: **_Sure_ you do, hotshot…

…Oh Jesus…


	9. Gi to the Rescue

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, as well as a new breed of enemies.

**Disclaimer:** Avatar: The Last Airbender and Bleach are in the possession of their rightful creators.

**A/N:** I'm feeling happy, are you? With season 3 on the way, you should be.

* * *

Chapter Nine: Gi to the Rescue

Qin sighed at the condition of the unconscious monk slung over her shoulder as she walked down the cramped alleys; his body was soaked from her water dome attack earlier. "Xu gets the other Waterbender, Zhang; the Firebenders, and I'm stuck dragging this _dead weight_ around!" With an irritated sigh, she came to a stop, but not before dropping Aang to the ground. "I don't know why the master needs you or that girl…with _our powers_; the Fire Nation won't be able to stop us."

Her black eyes stared down at the Avatar, as the sound of faint painful moaning reached her ears, and she grinned, "The way I see it, we don't need you." She reached into her robe, and pulled out her blue hilted Zanpakuto before raising the weapon over the boy.

"_**GI CHOMP!!" **_

The sudden attack took her by surprise, as a young girl had jumped on her and began to chomp away at her head, Qin stumbled back from Aang as she managed to pry the girl off her head, and throw her across the alleyway.

"Who in the hell do you think you are?!" She shouted as she watched the girl land on her feet like an acrobat. Qin's eyes widened in shock when she recognized the face, "_You_? But I thought Xu wa-"

The girl let out a sudden gagging noise, cutting the woman off mid-sentence. "When was the last time you washed your hair…_Pyon_?!"

Qin paused in bewilderment, but a smirk soon spread over her face upon realization, which set aside her previous outburst, "Oh, you're just that girl's stupid Mod-Soul thing." Qin chuckled to herself, while rubbing the spot on her head where she was bitten just moments ago, "What happened? You decided to take her body for a joyride again? Well…you picked the _wrong_ place to do it…"

"I didn't come here for fun…I came here to get him," The Mod-Soul smirked as she raised a finger to the still unconscious Avatar, "But you know what? I'll _gladly_ kick your ass before I go."

"Sorry…" A voice whispered in her ear, Gi turned around and found the other woman standing behind her, "I can't let you do that." Gracefully, the older woman back handed Gi in the face, the force of the blow sent her flying back into the walls. "Well, _that_ was easy." Qin scoffed, trudging back to Aang as she did so.

Pulling herself out from the rubble, Gi turned to see Qin making her way towards the monk, _'I can't let her get away with Aang!' _Using her enhanced leg strength, she pushed off from her feet and ran towards the woman.

The Shinzuibenda turned sharply at the quick approach, and easily managed to dodge a punch to the jaw from the Mod-Soul. She brought her hand up and tried to smack the girl away, but Gi ducked under the attack before fluidly kicking her in the gut, her inhuman strength more than enough to have the cloaked woman flying across the alleys and into a far off wall.

Gi followed this up by charging at her again, and by the time the older woman regained her bearings and pushed herself out of the wall, Gi had landed a solid punch to the woman's jaw, snapping her head backwards from the sheer force of the blow. The Mod-Soul then grabbed her by the arm sleeve, twisted herself around and tossed the woman over her shoulder, smacking her into the ground.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Qin grabbed the Mod-Soul's arm in retaliation before pulling her down and driving her foot into her forehead. Gi staggered back from the blow as Qin used this chance to jump back to her feet, "I guess I underestimated you…but it's about time that I finish you off."

Her weapon lay beside her on the ground, which she picked it up as she reached into her robes, pulling out a small water pouch. "Drown the heathens…" She let the pouch fall to the ground and it burst open, letting the water inside it splash out, "_Rikiddomoui_!"

'_Crap!' _was the word that popped into Gi's head. She broke into a run in an effort to intercept the attack, only to receive a nasty cut to the face from the other woman; a long water whip snapped about after its initial release. Gi immediately jumped back as blood dripped from her check. She winced from the pain, the deep cut hurt more than she thought it would. _'Katara-Sama sure is going to be mad at me for this…if I get out alive first…_Pyon_.'_

A smirked appeared on Qin's face, "You really pissed me off, you know that?"

Gi's smirked back, "I tend to do that a lot."

"Not anymore you won't…"

Before she could do anything else, a torrential wind blew from behind her, knocking Qin off her feet and flying across the alley, right before she smacked into a pile of barrels at the far end. Dumbfounded, Gi saw the young Airbender standing there, his arms shot out in a fighting gesture "Aang!" She called to him, using her master's voice rather than her own, which had a slightly higher tone than Katara's.

Moaning noises caught her ear. Gi turned around, and found her opponent pulling herself out from the wreckage, "You two…" The woman said in a harsh whisper. She returned to her feet and raised her head out toward them with an enraged snarl on her features, "…are gonna die!"

"That's enough."

Qin paused, and an irritated grunt escaped her lips, "…I'm busy Zhang..."

"Soul Society has sent another Shinigami here; a _Vice-Captain,_ at that." He began, "Seal your Zanpakuto and let's meet back with Xu."

With another grunt, she raised her hand as drops of water gather together in her palm, reforming into the sword she held before. "You better pray that I don't run into you two again." She said to her opponents before disappearing along with her larger companion.

Gi simply stared at their sudden retreat in disbelief. "I guess we won...?"

"You're not Katara, are you?"

Surprised by the question, Gi turned around and found the monk standing in front of her, "I…I…" She hesitated, "…I, uh, have _no_ idea what you mea-"

"-the Katara _I_ know_ doesn't _have superhuman strength." He interrupted.

'_Damn, he saw that...' _Gi sighed, "Ok, you win. I'm…not the real Katara. The name's Gi."

"Alright then, _Gi_, Where's the real Katara?"

An explosion erupted several blocks away. They both looked up and could see a massive smoke cloud rising to the sky, "You wanna know the truth? Then follow me!" Gi broke into a sprint towards the direction of the smoke cloud, and Aang, though confused, decided to go with her and chased after her.

* * *

**Last words from the Shogun: **

Late, yes.

Short, yes.

Boring, unlikely, but I'll leave that up to you guys.

I do apologize for my tardiness with this chapter, but I got preoccupied last month with a new PS2 game I got, as well as watching season three of Avatar (I don't really care for Katara's new hair style, but thats just me).


	10. Scratching the surface

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, as well as a new breed of enemies.

**Disclaimer:** Avatar: The Last Airbender and Bleach are in the possession of their rightful creators.

**A/N:** That's right, I'm back! And it would seem that my chapters are getting here later and later, but whatever…

* * *

Chapter Ten: Scratching the surface

"Ok, I think we lost it." Leaning against the building wall, a breathless Sokka panted heavily, sweat beamed down his head as he looked from one side of the alleyway to the other. With a sigh of relief, he turned his gaze to Toph as she attempted to catch her own breath. "You wouldn't happen to know what that thing is do you?"

"Not a clue." The blind Earthbender replied, completely fatigued from fighting the monster, "But doesn't that thing make you feel, I don't know, _nostalgic_?"

"If you mean the time that I almost got killed by that Saber tooth Mouse Lion, that was _nothing_ compared to this…"

"That's not what I meant, Meathead. It's just that, I feel like we came across something like this not too long ago, but I don't-"

"Wait…" He stopped her mid-sentence as an inhuman howl broke through the silence of the night. Sokka poked his head out from around the corner, "It sounds like its close…we gotta keep moving for now."

Toph nodded and the two made their way through the alley, the sound of the monster's roar grew louder, and the two broke into a run, hoping that they could be fast enough to lose the thing. They managed to escape from the alleys and stopped in the middle of the open empty city street, hoping to catch their breath. "Hey…Sokka…" Toph was the first to speak, "If anything happens, there's something I gotta tell ya…"

"Uh, Toph…" Sokka began, his head looking up towards the sky, "…that's going to have to wait..."

The large white masked beast lunged down on the two. Toph heard its roar, and she and Sokka jumped out of harm's way as the thing came down with a devastating crash, spreading debris every which way upon impact.

'_There's no way around it then.' _Toph rolled on the ground for a few second before getting to her feet and stopping next to Sokka, "We have no choice; we're going to have this thing and _beat_ it!"

Sokka sighed with a reluctant pout. "…I _knew_ you were gonna say that..."

* * *

Landing on the rooftops swiftly, Toshiro arrived just as the Hollow began its attack on Sokka and Toph. _'I made it just in time. I better take care of this fast and get back to Katara.' _He reached for his Zanpakuto and was about to jump in and help—the meow of a cat caught his ears. He turned his head to his side, and could see a black cat sit before him from across the roof; its yellow eyes staring back at the white haired Shinigami, "You? What are _you_ doing here?"

"Sorry to say, Hitsugaya-taicho, but you don't have the time to hear the explanations." The black cat's baritone voice began, "You might want to help the Waterbending Shinigami; the spirit energy coming from her opponent means she won't last long on her own."

"I know that, but Sokka and Toph are-"

The cat's tail waved about as it looked back at Toshiro with leering eyes. "I have a feeling that they won't need any help here…but I'll keep an eye on them, so go."

He stared back at the cat silently for a moment, not sure what it meant, but he decided to trust its words and left, heading towards his friend's position, _'No surprise if Urahara found a way to this world.' _He thought, _'But what are those two looking for _here_?'_

The black cat turned its attention back to the battle that was unfolding, and watched the Hollow begin charging at the two young warriors as they prepared to meet it head on. "So, do you really think they can awaken their abilities?"

"Well, it didn't take long for _Sado-kun_ and _Orihime-chan_ to awaken theirs..." A new figure appeared beside the cat. The man grinned as he leaned slightly on his cane and watched the fight, his eyes hidden beneath his green and white stripped bucket hat. "But, let's see how this plays out..."

* * *

"Look out!!" The warning from Sokka was another for Toph to jump out of the way as the large beast smashed the ground with his fist, sending dust flying every which way, "Did you see that?!"

"…Are…you…_**KIDDING ME**_?!" She shouted, pointing to her eyes with both hands in a wild fashion. The boy laughed embarrassingly before replying,

"Right…sorry…"

"I can barely 'see' the thing with Earthbending…can _you_ see it?"

"Well…a little bit, but how does tha-" He stopped before finishing his sentence, quite aware of what the girl was trying to say, "…do you really think that's a good idea?"

"Doesn't look like we have a choice, does it?" She turned away from the boy, hopefully standing before their attacker, "You have to be my 'eyes', alright?"

Sighing, Sokka stepped a few feet away and concentrated as the silhouette of the thing began charging the blind Earthbender, he saw it raise what looked like an arm at her, "Duck now!" She complied by leaning forward just as a gust of wind blew down the back of her neck, "Forward thrust!" Toph thrusted both arms out and adjusted her stance, causing the ground before her to raise and shoot towards the invisible monstrosity, knocking it back from what Sokka could see.

"Alright, you knocked it down!" He called out with a grin, but it quickly faded as the thing got up. Opening his mouth to tell Toph to strike it once more, a dark ripple appeared and opened behind it out of thin air, and the creature quickly retreated back into it, "What the…?"

"Hey Sokka, _where_ is it?!"

"It…left…" was all the boy could say.

"It left…?" Toph turned towards Sokka's direction, baffled by the sudden turn of events, "Does that mean we win?"

Before he could answer, the ripple ripped open behind Toph once more, and he could see what looked like a massive claw crawling out from it, "Behind you!" She didn't have time to question him, for a massive force smashed her across the head, sending the blind Earthbender flying through the air before crashing into a nearby building, "Toph!" The Water Tribe boy dashed towards his downed friend in a panic as the thing completely emerged from the ripple. Sokka bent down as he got close and checked her; the thing's blow had knocked her out cold, blood dripped from her head.

The howling of the beast caught his attention, Sokka turned his head to see its form moving towards him, but he then realized that from its original blurry form, that it was starting to clear, and he could finally see the thing for what it was: A white masked beast with a large hole in his chest, "What are you…?" The thing didn't reply as it neared him, raised its clawed hand up before brining it down on him.

"…Looks like you could use a hand…"

A new figure, dressed in a green coat wearing a green and white stripped hat appeared before Sokka, used only the cane he held in his hand to block the claw. The Water Tribe boy stared at the man with wide eyes, "W-who are _you_?"

The man didn't reply ether as he forced the monster back before raising his cane in the air, "Sing…_Benihime_…" He swung his cane down, and a long crimson red stream flew from it, hitting the monster square on and blasted through the rest of its body.

Sokka watched in awe as the thing let one last pain filled roar before disintegrating into dust, "Well, it would seem the two of you _are_ spiritually aware, just as I thought..." The man's voice shook Sokka out of his thoughts and he turned to meet his gaze, "But right now, it seems that the Waterbender you're related to is having a bit of trouble at the moment..."

His last sentence was enough to knock the lad back into reality, "Katara's in trouble? Where is she?!"

"You'll find her if you go straight…" with a smirk the stranger lifted his cane and pointed it towards the right, "…_that_ way."

With a nod of thanks, Sokka lifted the unconscious Toph and slung her arm over his shoulder before heading towards his desired direction, he stopped short upon realization about the man; he didn't get his name.

"Hey, by the way, what's yo-" He turned back to ask, only to find that he had vanished, "…where did he go?"

* * *

_**Shinigami Cup!!**_

(Takes place after chapter six)

"_Mushi mushi."_

"Matsumoto, it's me."

"_Oh, hello Taicho! Did you get the Gikongan I sent you?"_

"Yes, and it had a Mod-Soul in it."

"_Really, how did that get in there?"_

"I don't know, you _did_ check to see if the package wasn't defective, did you?"

"…"

"You hung up, didn't you?"

"…"

"…_**MATSUMOTO!!**_"

"Katara-Sama, why is powder-Chan screaming into that piece of metal…_Pyon_?"

"It's…probably best not to ask."


	11. I'm Sorry

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, as well as a new breed of enemies.

**Disclaimer:** Avatar: The Last Airbender and Bleach are in the possession of their rightful creators.

**A/N:** After seeing how the last chapter came late, I decided to upload this one rather quickly, so know right now that this chapter marks the end of the first arc of this story. And hopefully I'll be able to update future chapters more quickly (Hopefully during Christmas break).

* * *

Chapter Eleven: I'm Sorry

To say the least, Katara's condition was not perfect.

She sat up on one knee, panting hard while clutching her sore side with her arm, one of the sleeves of her kimono was burned off from a fire attack from Xu while her arm had suffered a serious burn, her hair was disheveled as blood dripped from her mouth, she moaned as she slowly and painfully rose to her feet, the pain ran through her body, and her face twisted in agony.

"For someone with your reiatsu, continuing to fight isn't a good idea." The renegade Firebender retorted, yawning loudly from the dullness of their battle, "Look, I didn't plan all this just to kill you, if you just agree to join us, then-"

"Shut up!" She interrupted, "You threaten and hurt my friends, nearly turned me into a Hollow, and expect me to join you?!"

"I take that as a no, huh?"

"Does _this _answer your question?!" She took oof towards him; her free hand extended over the bridge, the water below swirled before rising above the bridge in a massive wave, the very tip freezing over into sharp icicles before crashing down on its intended target, but Xu bent his knees and pushed himself up towards the wave, he swiftly brought up his foot, which had now been engulfed in flames, and sliced through the girl's attack, the icicles snapped in half and melted into water once more.

Before a small gasp of shock could escape her, Xu teleported before her and delivered a hard uppercut to her jaw, Katara could feel and hear her jaw snap out of place as the force of the blow had sent her flying into the air, Xu jumped up and soared over her with amazing speeds. With a smirk, he pulled back both arms before throwing a barrage of fireballs at the Waterbender, who had brought her arms up in a vain attempt to block them, but the intense heat, velocity, and sheer numbers only served to burn her arms, the heat of the fireballs burn her skin, and she bit her lip to keep from screaming.

Katara felt a strong hand grip her wrist, she looked up to see Xu, a wide grin on his face, he then twisted himself and started to spin around rapidly, the girl in tow. As he came to a full stop, he let go, and Katara was sent falling to the ground like a comet, but much to the man's dismay, she had crashed into the river below.

He sighed, "Ironic, really…"

Xu slowly lowered himself back to the ground, standing toward the edge of what was left of the bridge and looked down into the clear water, _'She didn't die down there, did she?'_ He leaned closer to the edge, and found the waters below him beginning to swirl, slow and steady at first, but soon became more violent, it suddenly shot up, rushing towards the Firebender, who just sighed, "Not again, how many times are you-"

His sentence was cut short, for the tip of a sword materialized from the water, its wielder following behind as it struck the Firebender in his left shoulder. Xu winced from the attack as the wave of water rushed at him as well, it washed him across the city streets before he smacked into a wall. Pushing himself off the wall, he shot a quick look at his shoulder, the wound didn't look deep, but must have been because of all the blood that had now stained his sleeve.

The breathing of his opponent caught his ears, he darted his eyes forward, finding the Waterbender back on her feet, the tip of her Zanpakuto stained with his blood, "Cheap shot if you ask me?"

"But it worked?" Katara laughed.

In an instant, the Firebender was standing before her, a firmed hand gripped around her sword wrist, "True, so it looks like I'll have to get serious…" A spark shot out from his free hand, he knew that Katara saw it from her reaction, "By any chance, did you know that water conducts electricity?" Sparks flew from his hand as he palm struck the girl in the chest, the electricity was conducted through her wet clothes, sending a painful serge through Katara's who body.

Katara screamed out in pain, her body quickly went numb with each second that passed, and after what seemed like a lifetime, Xu pulled his hand away, letting her hit the ground with a thud.

"Xu!" A voice called out from behind him, and he turned around to see his two other companions standing behind them, "The Soul Society has sent another Shinigami, Vice-Captain level." The Earthbender Zhang had spoken, "And I bet it's only a matter of time before more show up."

"Right, let's finish up here then." The Firebender's red eyes gazed on the female member of their group, "Where's the Avatar?"

"Gave me the slip." Qin muttered.

Xu sighed, _'I knew I should have sent Zhang to get the monk.' _"Alright, let's get moving."

"What about Katara?" Zhang asked, pointing to the now unconscious girl lying behind Xu, "Looks like you gave her a hell of a betting, does that mean she's not one of us."

"Nope, turned as down." Xu turned back towards Katara, standing over her as he inhaled deeply, he coughed violently as a cloud of smoke escaped him, it started to take shape before materializing into a sword, which the man grasped in his hand, "She decided to side with Aang and the Shinigami, that makes her an enemy, and has to be eliminated." He raised the sword over head, "Master Matsu would want it that way."

"_**Xu!**_"

The Firebender spun around on his heels as a powerful force of spirit energy rushed at him and his comrades, who had jumped out of the way as shards of ice crashed down where they had previously stood.

As it cracked and melted away, the figure of a white haired boy stood before the three Spiritbenders, his green eyes darted to his Waterbending companion lying lifelessly on the ground, before starring into the red eyes of his enemy hatefully, "Xu, you'll pay for this." He snarled, gripping the sword in his hands tightly.

"Taicho!" Looking out from the corner of his eye, Toshiro could see his Vice-Captain appear beside him, her own sword already drawn out, "Looks like I made it just in time." She added, raising her weapon in a defensive posture.

A low growl escaped Xu, but before he could do anything, Zhang and Qin walked past him, both weapons drawn out, "Well deal with this Xu." The larger man told him, plunging his sword into the ground, "I've been meaning to get back at that woman for before!"

"Hey, save me some of these punks Zhang." A deveious smirk appeared on the older Waterbender's face, "I'm not the type to let you guys have all the fun."

Both Toshiro and Rangiku stood firm, the expression on their faces were stern as they two Shinzubendas unleashed their Zanpakuto simultaneously.

"Bury them six feet under, _Ishiakuma_!"

"Drown the heathens, _Rikiddomoui_!"

In an instant, a mass wave of earth and water rushed at the two Shinigami, colliding into one another with ferocious force, dirt and water flew every which way upon impact, and the two Benders smirked at their handiwork.

"Sit upon the frozen heavens, _Hyourinmaru_!"

"Growl, _Haineko_!"

An intense pain ran through their bodies, both Zhang and Qin could see, from the corner of their eyes, the flash up blood that escaped them, as well as the two Shinigami that stood beside them, surrounding by traces of ice and ash, before they made their way towards Xu.

Swiftly bringing his sword to bare, Xu blocked an incoming strike from Toshiro, yet the force from the blow caused him to skid across the ground as the white haired Shinigami pushed hard on the Firebender.

From the corner of his eye, Xu could see the strawberry blonde scoop the unconscious Katara from her spot on the ground, before taking her a safe distance and leaning her against a wall, "Dead weight if you ask me." He grinned. To this, the white haired swordsmen's eyes furrowed, and he pushed harder on his weapon.

* * *

A soft mumble escaped her before she opened her eyes, everything around her was blurry, she blinked a few times until her vision cleared, and she could make the woman that kneeled beside her, dressed in the same black kimono as she was, "W-who are…"

"You can call me Rangiku, and you must be Katara, right?" Katara nodded, "Well, you seem a lot nicer than your Mod-Soul friend."

"KATARA-SAMA!" Weakly, Katara turned her head and found said Mod-Soul running to her side, she skidded to a halt, and dropped to her knees beside the wounded girl, "Katara-Sama, you hurt!" Gi cried, tears forming in her eyes.

"I'll be fine Gi…" a sharp pain ran through her ribs as she took a deep breath, causing her to wince, "What about the others?"

"About that…" Gi nudged her head to the side, gesturing the real Waterbender to turn her head.

She did so, only to find three others standing behind Mod-Soul, both Aang and Sokka starred at her dumbfounded, while Toph, as Katara just noticed, was unconscious as she was slung over her brother's shoulder.

"Katara..." Aang was the first to speak, though words escaped him at the moment as he saw the condition of his friend, "What happened, why are there two of you are?"

"And what are you wearing?" Sokka added.

She didn't say anything; she could see the injuries that were present on all three of them, minor to some extent, but yet…

'_They all got hurt…' _She shut her eyes, but a single tear ran down her cheek, _'Because of me…'_

"I'm sorry…"

* * *

Qin moaned loudly, her hand clutched over her side from where she was struck from the two Shinigami, her own blood stained her blue robes as it seeped out of the wound and onto her hand, she lifted her head up, and to her surprise, saw the Avatar standing beside the other Water Shinzuibenda, _'You little bastard…" _She raised her free hand and water formed around it, before freezing over into a long ice javelin, _"You'll pay for making a fool of me!"_

Eye still on her target, she flicked her wrist and let it fly.

* * *

The sharp whizzing caught her ears, she darted her eyes to where it came from and could see the frozen weapon flying towards them, heading for…

'_Aang!'_

"_**LOOK OUT!**_"

With what little strength she had left, Katara pushed herself off to her feet, pushing Aang away as the ice javelin drove into her; It pierced her stomach before drive right through her. Her blues eyes bugle, vomiting out blood before hitting the ground hard.

"_**KATARA!**_" Aang, Sokka, Rangiku and Gi shouted in usion, the Avatar raced to her side and gently lifted her head into his arms, "Katara, are you ok?! Katara!" He placed a hand on her throat, hoping to feel even a faint pulse, but nothing, "No…"

"Katara…" A whimper escaped Sokka, and a muffled cry came from Gi, who held her hands over her face. Before he could say anything else, the Water Tribe boy noticed the arrow marks on the monk's head and hands starting to glow, "Oh no…"

* * *

'_What? This Reiatsu…' _The Sudden spiritual pressure pushed down on the Shinigami captain and caused him to lose his grip on his weapon, his opponent must have felt it as well from his similar look on his face, _'This can't be…' _Both he and Firebender turned to the source, and as they feared, the powerful force emitted from the young monk, his arrow markings glowing a brilliant white, his bloodstained hands clutching the motionless Waterbender, and the Captain's eyes widened in shock, "Katara!"

A quick knee to the chest from Xu knocked the white haired warrior aside, and the former used this chance to sheath his sword away within his now tattered robes. He darted his red eyes to his companion, the feminine Waterbender of their group struggling to her feet while the muscular Earthbender lay on the ground motionless, perhaps knocked out from the previous attack, "Qin! Grab Zhang and let's get out of here!" He ordered quickly, realizing that they were no match for the monk at his strongest, especially in their condition.

Wordlessly, she moved to the bigger man's side, slung his arm over her shoulder and hosting him up before she and the Firebender vanished in an instant,

Toshiro recovered from the blow and he regained his composure, the thoughts of the retreating enemy lefted his mind as he turned his sights to Aang, spirtual energy had gathered around him as he began to rise to the air, still clutching the motionless Katara in his arms. And though she was wounded at the stomach, the Shinigami noticed the bit blood dripping from her head as well.

_'Aang's spirit pressure is crushing her...' _His mind raced as he sprung to his feet and made his way to Aang, _'If she dosen't get help soon, she'll die!'_

* * *

**_Preview_**

"Yo everybody, Kon here! I know you've all be waiting for my triumphant appearance, but don't fret for I shall be appearing soon! In the mean time, you can do with my supporting cast, like Ichigo and what not."

"Supporting? You'r not even the hero of this story!"

* * *

**_Shinigami Cup: _****_Golden!!_**

"Hey Xu, Zhang's pretty heavy, mind giving my a hand here?"

"Yeah sure, whatever...huh?"

"_ZZZZZZZZZZZ_"

"...**_HE'S BEEN SLEEPING THE WHOLE TIME!!_**"

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious Qin..."

* * *

**Last words from the Shogun:**

Hate me for the cliffhanger, right? Ah don't worry, Katara's not gonna die...I mean, shes the mean person in this fic, so it would be kind of a buzz kill, ya know. Well, now that this is out of the way, I'm off to enjoy my holiday break, and I hope you do so too.

I'll be back next year with the second arc of this fic, til then, Merry Christmas!


	12. The Soul Society

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, as well as a new breed of enemies.

**Disclaimer:** I got nothing…

**A/N:** Without any further delay, here is arc 2!

* * *

Chapter Twelve: The Soul Society

Mumbles and groans escaped from the young girl as she tossed and turned under her sheets where she laid on a simple futon. As she slowly regained consciousness, she opened her eyes to reveal startling blue irises. Her vision, though blurred at first, had begun to clear in a matter of a few blinks. With little to no movement of her head, her eyes scanned her surroundings. Katara found herself in a small yet neatly decorated room. The few sources of illumination came in the form of stray sunbeams that had slipped through the cracks of the wooden-barred windows. _'Where…where am I?' _The soft sound of sliding doors caught her attention, drawing her eyes toward a young white-haired youth standing at the door frame. A slight gasp escaped from her lips before she replied. "Shiro!"

"Glad to see you're awake, Katara." The Shinigami Captain began his greeting in a seemingly emotionless way, but was in fact laced with concern within his voice. "You've been out cold for a couple of weeks now. I almost thought you'd never wake up..."

Katara was silent, instead, trying to play back _those_ events in her head. "The...last thing I remember, was seeing Aang and the others…but I must have blacked out after-" A certain aspect of her memory crashed through like a rushing Tidal wave, eliciting a sudden moment that had not crossed her mind earlier. "_Aang_! Is he-" The shock sent her immediately sitting up as a sharp pain caused her to wince and grab her side, but felt a firm hand grasp her shoulder.

"Aang and the others are fine," Toshiro stopped her mid-sentence, gently pushing her back to a lying down position. The last thing he needed was for her to start worrying again. "It's obvious that you've forgotten, so I'll remind you; you took a fatal javelin strike to the stomach from one of the Shinzuibendas, whose real target was Aang." He paused for Katara to be fully reclined before continuing his story. "He was completely overcome with shock at seeing you injured, and went into a sort of…_state_."

It seemed that it was only making matters worse now, causing Toshiro to quickly add more to reassure her. "I had no choice but to knock him unconscious before things got out of hand any more, and I left it up to Gi to tell your friends everything before taking you here."

"And _where _is 'here'…exactly…?" Katara asked as her worries subsided a little.

"…Soul Society, of course."

For her, that was quite a surprise, "S_-soul_ Society… _your_ world?"

"Well, seeing as how you didn't have a better idea, where else was there?" The sarcastic remark, earned more than a simple pout from the exasperated young girl. "As for the Shinzuibendas, they retreated when Aang went to retaliate; since then, another Shinigami from the 6th Division was posted to watch over the city, but I think after that fight they'll stay low for the time being." He noticed Katara turning away from him, darting her blue eyes toward her feet. "…What's the matter?"

"Nothing, it's just…" Katara hesitated, and took a deep breath in, before exhaling a heavy sigh. "I just want to thank you…for _all_ you've done…and, I know I must have been a burden for you throughout this whole mess…" Her eyes had chosen an arbitrary spot on the wall to her left, not wanting to look the Shinigami in the eye.

Toshiro could only scratch his head with a sigh. "Forget about it, we're _both_ Shinigami, meaning we're all on the same side…are you feeling better by any chance?"

"Actually, yeah I am." Pulling off the sheets of her futon, the Waterbender found herself dressed in a plain white robe—due to the condition of her kimono during the battle. She slowly and gently pushed herself up to her feet, and stretched out her arms upward. The sound of several tiny kinks rang in her ear. "Now that I'm better, I'd like to head back home…so I can apologize to the others for not telling them before."

"About that…" Toshiro began, crossing his arms over his chest with a light glanced toward her, "I've been sending constant reports to Yamamoto-sotaicho, the leader here in Sereitei, about your actions as a Shinigami, and as of now…" He reached into the inner pockets of his vest, and within a few seconds he fished out a small bronze badge, with a matching colored skull engraved upon it. "You are hereby recognized as a Shinigami Representative."

"…" Speechless at the sudden promotion, Katara outstretched her hand before grasping her fingers around the badge. "Uh… thank…you?" She finally managed to stutter out, genuinely wary of the design and purpose of the strange object. "But…I really should be getting back to-"

"-I'm sorry to say this Katara, but Yamamoto has also made a request of you." Toshiro interrupted, and Katara sighed irritably at this. "Before you can return home, you've already been assigned a mission as a Shinigami Representative. You'll be heading out within the hour." He paused to allow this to sink into Katara's mind, especially since he had heard a sigh of disbelief escape her lips. "There have been a large number of Hollows appearing in the town of Karakura recently, and so you'll be heading there to meet with the Representative posted there."

"Well, Shiro… I'm flattered that your superior needs my help but… sending me out on my own seems rather…"

"…you'll be accompanied by another shinigami—Kuchiki Rukia of the 13th Division. She's well acquainted with the other Representative, and I've also put in a request for someone else to help you _brush up _on your technique."

"Shiro…" It seemed that there was nothing she could do at this point. Everything had been arranged, and all of it seemingly singlehandedly by the young boy standing before her. "I-"

"-One more thing…" He raised his hand to stop her mid-sentence once more, causing a soft groan from the girl. Ignoring her actions, Toshiro continued. "Your brother Sokka wanted me to give you this," In his other hand, Toshiro revealed a black necklace and attached blue pendant before handing it to her. "He said that you would be devastated if you lost it again."

She found herself unable to form words, and at the same time, Katara was afraid that anything she tried to say at this moment would be some babble or incomprehensible mumbling. Her face was flush with color as she placed the necklace around her neck, and darted her eyes away from Toshiro, as if her own two feet had suddenly become a point of interest. "Shiro, I-I really don't know what to say…"

"I already said it, didn't I? We're _both_ Shinigami…." Toshiro added with (what amazingly seemed to her) a warm—albeit small—smile, "Your Zanpakuto and clothes are right behind you, so get dressed and be ready to meet Rukia at the Senkaimon. I have other responsibilities waiting to be taken care of."

As he turned around to leave, Katara's mind juggled back and forth between taking action and hesitating, when she felt her body move on its own. Her arms opened up and she leaned in, wrapping around the young captain's back from behind. From her point of view, Katara could not see the suddenly flushed face that had overtaken Toshiro's normally cool composure, as he froze in step from the unexpected embrace. She had feared the worse when she realized her hug's timing to be abysmally off, and just as quickly released her arms from around him. "Uh… see you…see you later…" was all she could muster out, forgetting to even apologize.

"…" Without a response, Toshiro simply slid open the door before closing it behind him as he left.

Katara smiled cutely with a slight twitch at the corner of her lip; her own face a bright shade of red as she spun around in place, spotting both her weapon and a fresh clean set of clothes. The embarrassment soon faded away along with her smile, as the events at Ba Sing Se began to reclaim her memories. _'The Shinzuibendas… they're the ones who started all this!' _shutting her eyes, she tried desperately to recall her fight with the Firebender named Xu. _'Xu mentioned a name before he was about to kill me, but what was it…'_

_"…she decided to side with Aang and the Shinigami, that makes her an enemy, and has to be eliminated. Master Matsu would want it that way..."_

_'…Matsu…'_ She repeated the name in her mind, as her hands tightened into a fist. _'He must be their leader, so I'll assume he's the strongest of them, but…'_ She moved across the room, reaching out for her sword and grasping it in her hand, _'I became a Shinigami to protect my friends; I have to get stronger and beat this Matsu!' _She pressed her head against her sword's scabbard, meditating silently, _'Kaiyou Danshaku, please help me.'_

* * *

W-wow…" Katara stared in amazement at the large spiritual gates that stood before her, easily being amongst the largest she's seen in her life. "I guess _this_ must be the Senkaimon..." She said in awe before the sight, "I just wish Shiro had given me directions, though." Having no idea of the layout of Sereitei, it had been a difficult and almost dangerous walk to get to the gates. She had accidently bumped into two men while rounding a corner, one of them was a bald headed man with a rather bad attitude problem, while his companion had a, almost, feminine aura to him. Luckily she was spared from incurring the former's wrath when a little, cute pink haired girl appeared atop the bald man's head, sinking her teeth into his scalp before he howled in frustration and pain and left.

_'I'll call you "Soaky"!' _She giggled softly at the thought of being nicknamed by the strange girl.

A single black butterfly fluttered by her ear, before landing gently and lightly against the mammoth doors of the gate. They slowly moved inward as a blinding light escaped the cracks. "You must be Katara, right?" Startled, Katara turned around, spotting another woman standing behind her. Dark raven black waves of hair complimented the woman's facial structure, even those rogue locks of hair that draped over her forehead. The woman's violet eyes were striking to see, although she could say the same about Katara's bright blue ones. "Kuchiki Rukia, of the 13th Division." She introduced herself.

"… Uh…" Katara hesitated, but breathed in deeply before bowing at the waist, "It's a pleasure to…uh, meet you, Rukia."

"Nervous?" Rukia smirked, noticing how timid the other girl seemed to be, since she darted her eyes away from her, "No need to worry, Ichigo only _looks _scary when you first meet him."

"Ichigo?" Katara gave Rukia a curious look, though it seemed that the woman didn't notice it.

"Well, let's get going."

"Right…" Katara ran after her, and the two of them disappeared within the blinding white light before the doors behind them slowly closed shut.

* * *

**_Shinigami Cup: Golden!!_**

(Takes place between chapters six and seven)

"Katara-Sama, do you think I need a name?… _pyon_"

"I guess I can name you after that little dispenser thing you came from?"

"_Gikongan_? Too long!"

"Right… then…how about, Kon?"

"Bah, that sounds like a guy's name!"

"Gan?"

"That sounds _stupid_!!"

"Well, the only other name I can think of is Gi…"

"Ah!! I like _that _one, it sounds so _cute!_… _pyon_"

"… Aw, it does sounds adorable, what do you think Shiro?"

"…Please…just leave me out of this…"


	13. The Bender and the Strawberry

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, as well as a new breed of enemies.

**Disclaimer:** I got nothing…

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: The Bender and the Strawberry

The metropolis was a wonder to behold.

Katara marveled at the stone and glass buildings that seemed to stretch so far upward that they could scratch the night sky overhead. The spectacular signs that were lit as though it was day, and the vibrantly lit eyes and anxiety causing roar of the wheeled metallic machines that passed by. _'It's safe to say that we're not in my world.' _She thought to herself, turning her gaze toward a nearby shop window that immediately caught her curiosity. "Rukia, this place is amazing." Katara gasped with said feeling.

"The culture shock isn't too much for you, I hope." Rukia responded distractedly. However welcoming she wanted Katara's visit to be, the Shinigami focused more on the metal object in her hand, tapping several of the buttons with her thumb and forming a message on the small screen on top. "Ok, I've sent the message to Ichigo. Let's meet up with him." She folded the metal device shut and placed back into the inner pocket of her robe, sending a smile toward the other girl's way. "Katara?"

"…" Engulfed in the spectacle of light and movement within the strangely conical glass, Katara's eyes glowed with a childlike wonder and amusement of the thing. Unable to articulate what she thought of the gooey substance, Katara could only press her hands against the shop window with her mouth agape. "…pretty…" was all she could breathe out.

With a sigh, Rukia could only shrewdly smirk and raise an arm that would drag the girl back into reality. Giving a small flick of her finger against Katara's forehead, Rukia's sudden attack had indeed brought the visiting Shinigami's attention back on her. "Sad to say it, but we're _not_ here for sightseeing, remember?"

"Ah…Sorry…" Was all Katara could say, wincing as her hand felt against her sore forehead. "So…" She took a deep recollecting breath, following Rukia now, "…where to?"

* * *

From his rooftop vantage point, the young man sighed, his brown eyes scanning the message that appeared on his phone which read:

**Arrival:  
Park  
10 mins.**

"Damn, just one after another these days." He sighed while ruffling his orange hair with his hand. The gentle night breeze blew at his black kimono, causing it to flutter. A red chain came diagonally down from his right shoulder to his left hip, which carried a massive object wrapped in a white cloth on his back. "Well, guess I better take care of this one before I head back." He sighed one last time, pushing off from his feet and vanishing into the night.

* * *

"Rukia, where'd you go? Rukia?" Katara knew she was supposed to pay attention to where she was going, but the various objects and playthings for small children scattered around the park made it all the more difficult to focus on anything else, and now Katara had been separated from her more knowledgeable companion. "Rukia?" She called out a bit louder now and with more concern, darting from around one end of the park to the other in a rush. "Ok, Katara, just calm down…let's try to retrace…"

Soft sobs caught her ear, stopping her mid-sentence; she turned to the source and found someone curled under a tree not too far from where she had been muttering to herself; it appeared to be a small girl. Cautiously, Katara approached and kneeled down beside her, and it was then that she noticed the small chain that hung from the small girl's chest, _'She's a spirit.' _Her eyes widened a bit at that fact._ 'But even so, she's still a scared girl…' _Nodding over her own observation, Katara took a small crawl toward the little girl. "Hey, are you ok?" she asked softly.

She didn't seem to be startled by Katara's appearance, in fact, the small girl's soft sobs paused and slowly turned to sniffles. Gradually raising her head after a short time, the girl turned her still tear-ridden eyes to Katara. They were a natural green, quite pretty, though at the moment there was a bit of suspicion aimed at the sudden arrival. "…"

"No worries now. I'm here to help. Want to tell me what happened?" Taking note of the small girl's behavior, Katara curled up with her arms over her bent knees, sitting next to her.

When offered a comforting smile, the small girl wiped her eyes with her sleeve, sniffling as she attempted to keep the snot from dripping out. "…b-big monsters tried to…tried to eat me…." She whimpered, "…I was running away from them, but…but I think I lost them when I got here…."

"I'll protect you, then. Why don't you come with me, okay? I'll definitely keep you safe from those monsters." Smiling warmly, Katara extended a hand out with a nod, which the small girl hesitantly took, and helped her up. This was her first time meeting a spiritual being that wasn't a Hollow or Shinigami, so of course she hadn't a complete idea of what to do, _'Maybe Rukia will know.' _She decided, and began to walk but felt a slight tug against her arm. Turning to see the girl, still hesitant to leave the spot that had kept her safe so far, Katara bent down to her at eye level with a small encouraging squeeze of her hand. "Don't worry; it's going to be ok, trust me."

A familiar roar in the distance and Katara instinctively scooped the girl up in her arms within a moment's notice. Taking care that the girl was secure in her grasp, she jumped away just before a sudden force tore the tree they were just under into pieces. The girl screamed in fright, wrapping her small arms tightly around her protector's neck.

As the dust cleared, Katara could see the figures of two bulking beasts turning their white headed faces towards them, grinning menacingly. _**"We've been looking for you little girl."**_ The first Hollow chuckled. Practically ignoring Katara's presence, the Hollow took a bold step forward. _**"Hand that girl over Shinigami, and we'll let you go."**_

"Forget it!" Katara shouted back, still holding the frightened child in her arms, "I can't stand you freaks, hurting anyone in your way just to get a free meal! You disgust me!"

The Hollows ignored the insult and lunged at her, aware that she was unable to draw her weapon because of the child. Taking this to note as well, Katara was forced to jump back from a swipe of a claw from the first Hollow, but as her feet touched the ground, the second one appeared from behind and struck her in the side with a strong punch, knocking her across the ground before hitting and crashing through a rock formation on the other side. Through it all, Katara held the small girl in her arms, clenching her jaw tight as to not scream out in pain and frighten the girl any further.

"_**If you wanna get eaten too, that's fine by us..." **_The two beasts jumped at her once more, baring their teeth while their tongues slathered about in a disgusting way. Having gotten back up, Katara drew a sharp breath in regards to this hairy situation. She knew that she wouldn't be able to get away in time, not when there were two of them, and she had to keep the girl safe as well. Her blue eyes darted to the very girl she held onto, whose head was buried tightly in her chest.

"I-I'm sorry little girl…" she began to admit the haughtiness of her claims to protect her.

"No need to be sorry..." Katara raised her head in surprise, a black robe and orange haired figure stood between her and the Hollows, a hilt-less giant curved butcher-knife-like-sword clutched in his hands. The Hollow were also surprised by his sudden appearance and stopped in their tracks, "I don't have to guess what you said about these things. Not when I can see how determined you are to keep that little girl safe." He craned his head behind to look at Katara, his hazel brown eyes meeting her blue ones, "They really are freaks, aren't they?"

Growling angrily, the second of the two Hollows charged at the orange haired arrival, raising a clawed hand to tear him apart. The male Shinigami faced forward once again, throwing his immense blade in a swing that had it fly in a swift upward motion to slice the monster's hand clean off, even before the arm could pull downward to begin its attack. As the Hollow howled in pain, the boy swung his weapon downward, cutting through the head into two before the body dissolved into nothing.

From behind him, Katara watched the unnamed Shinigami take down the Hollow without difficulty. _'H-he took that thing down no problem! Is he…' _Her train of thought was lost, however, when both she and the other Shinigami noticed that the first of the two Hollow had disappeared.

"Looks like it took off..." The orange hair boy said, turning again to Katara. "Are you al-" He stopped mid sentence, his mouth agape. "Look out! Behind you!" He rushed toward her, alerting her to the danger. Turning her head, Katara found the other Hollow coming down on her and the child from above, with arm cocked back, mouth opened wide and howling demonically.

"**Hadou 31: Shakkahou!**_**"**_

A huge red sphere of energy slammed into the side of the Hollow's head, followed by an explosion that completely destroyed its head before the body disintegrated. "Oi! I told you to stay with me because it was dangerous! How could you get lost when you're supposed to follow my reiatsu signature?" Katara and the boy had now noticed the black haired female standing there with her right arm outstretched, "From what I heard from Hitsugaya-Taicho, I thought you could handle a few meager Hollows by yourself." She added in a begrudging tone.

Katara stared at the third Shinigami in relief while the boy did so in surprise. "Rukia!" They both shouted in unison, quickly turning to one another from the awkwardness. It was then Katara remembered the small girl, who was still tightly wrapping her arms around her neck. She looked and rubbed her hand against the small girl's head. "It's ok, the monsters are gone now." She said in an assuring tone and set her down.

Rukia approached the girl and drew out her Zanpakuto, earning a sudden gasp from the dark skinned girl. "Relax. I'm just performing a _Konso_." She explained before tapping lightly on the child's forehead with the butt of her sword. "She'll be safe in Soul Society."

The girl began to glow brightly and slowly become enveloped by an equally bright light, but not before showing Katara a small and cute smile. "Thank you." the girl's voice echoed before the light completely eclipsed her whole body. When the light finally receded, a small black butterfly fluttered about a second later toward the moon above.

Katara watched quietly as the small insect flew upwards until vanishing from sight, sighing happily with a smile.

"So, you're the Shinigami Representative here, right?" She asked, breaking the silence and turned her attention to the boy.

"Yeah," He replied, placing his sword onto his back, which seemed to wrap itself into a long white cloth. "The name's Ichigo. Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Katara." She introduced herself, extending her hand to which he reciprocated. "I just became a Representative in my own world, and I'll be helping you out here for a while."

"Your world?" Ichigo asked confusingly, "You mean there are other worlds than this one and Soul Society?"

"Yeah, I thought the same thing." Katara laughed sheepishly with a smile.

"Well now that you two are acquainted, we should be going." Forcefully grabbing Katara by the collar, Rukia turned around and walked away from a surprised Ichigo. "We'll be at Urahara's shop while in town, so we'll see you tomorrow morning, Ichigo."

"…Uh…ok…." Was all Ichigo could mutter out, all the while keeping silent as Katara squirmed and attempted to struggle out of Rukia's iron grip. "Guess my work here is done..." he said, deciding to head back home himself.

* * *

"Rukia, where are you taking me?" Katara asked in an irritated manner, still trying to wrestle her way out. "And who's this Urahara?"

"Don't get impatient." The smaller Shinigami stayed serious as they dropped to the ground. They had been bounding from rooftop to rooftop just moments ago, very far away from the brightly lit city scrape. "His shop is just around the corner." Moving out of the tall fence's shadow, Rukia and Katara rounded the corner of the block, and soon came in front of a small nondescript shop in the middle of a vacant lot. A lone figure dressed in green attire over a black kimono, sat quietly on the porch in front of the doorway. His messy blonde hair was covered by a green and white striped bucket hat on his head.

"Welcome, Katara- Chan…" He mused with a wide smile, "…I've been expecting you."

* * *

_**Shinigami Cup: Golden!**_

(Takes place during chapter Twelve)

**Katara:** Aw, aren't you just the _cutest_! What's your name?

**Yachiru:** I'm Yachiru!

**Katara:** Aren't you a little young to be wandering all by yourself Yachiru?

**Yachiru: **I'm not alone, Ken-Chan's with me.

**Kenpachi:** There you are, I've been looking all over for ya, dumbass!

**Yachiru:** Ken-Chan!

**Katara: **…

* * *

**Last Words from the Shogun:**

Sure is late, I know no one is keeping a schedule on me about this, but still…


	14. His Arrival

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:**AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, as well as a new breed of enemies.

**Disclaimer:** I got nothing…

* * *

Chapter Fourteen: His Arrival

Night had fallen over the landscape as a group of thirteen Fire Nation soldiers were out on patrol, making their way over a large hill that over looked their camp. As they reached the top, the leading member of the group, a Firebender, stopped suddenly, his men following suit. "You there, halt! Stop where you are!" He ordered. Just at the foot of the hil below the group, a lone figure stopped in his tracks, his body covered in what looked like an old worn out surcoat, and a simple worn out brimmed hat hid his face from view.

"I need to go through your camp," He said, his voice was old and raspy, but it still held a hint of demand in it, "Let me through…_now_."

Scuffing, the Firebending leader gestured for the two soldiers behind him to seize the old man, "Takes this old coot back to the camp, and we'll teach him some manners later." The two men moved towards the older man, pointing the spears they held at him.

The old man simply raised his head up to the two men, his hat covering his eyes, "As expected from Fire Nation filth…"

Suddenly, the two soldiers that stood before him reared thier heads back, as if from a suddeny punch to the head and dropped their spears before they fell to the ground in a motionless heap. The rest of group gasped in surprise, not sure what had happened to their comrades. The leader took a step back, startled by whatever it was the man did, "S-surround him… surround him and kill him!" The remaining soldiers broke rank and raced at the stranger. They circled him and raised their spears for an attack.

No attack came as they all too dropped their weapons and fell motionlessly to the ground like the first two.

The Firebender starred in horror, cold sweat running down his head. He lost the feeling in his legs, and they began to wobble. The older man remained silent and slowly approached him. The Firebender screeched and, acting on instinct, throw an arm forward, sending a jet of fire at the old man. It made contact and was followed an explosion.

It was futile, for the old man now stood directly in front of him.

"W-what…are you…"

"The end of your kind."

The old man raised his arm and planted a well placed open palm strike to the Firebender's chest; he fell on his rear hard from the hit, and looked up. To his horror he watched as…his body fell to the ground in the same style as his men, a long chain coming out of it that connected to his chest. Looking ahead, he could his soldiers all standing around their bodies, all with chains to their chests like him.

"What did you do to us?!" He screamed, his mind still racing with fear.

Instead of answering him, the old man merely gave out a low whistle. A thin crack then appeared in midair, it split opened to reveal some sort of dark portal, which had, to the horror of the Fire Nation soldiers, let out half a dozen terrifying, white masked beasts. The things screeched an ear shattering cry before descending down on the hapless soldiers, sinking their bleach white teeth into their flesh.

The screams of the dying men reached the ears of the old man, who now stood at the top of the hill, looking down at the Fire Nation camp below. He raised his hand, and with a snap of the fingers. The white masked beasts quickly rushed to his side.

"Go," he said to the monsters, raising his arm and pointing towards the camp, "Feast." The beasts roared with a hungry delight and fell upon the Fire Nation forces like birds of prey. The old man walked down the hill and made his way through the camp, the screams of the dying men and the smell of blood in the air made him smile a sinister smile.

_'My time has been wasted long enough, time to make for Ba Sing Se.'_

* * *

If there was one thing Xu hated about working alongside the Dai Li, it was Long Feng. Especially when the normal Earthbender would start scolding him for his actions, for which he couldn't blame him for really. Xu would be mad too if someone messed up his city with supernatural powers.

"Do you have any idea how much damage you caused?!" The Dai Li leader shouted in frustration, standing with his back turned to the Shinzuibenda as he simply starred down at the burning fire in the chimney of his quarters, "Over twenty buildings destroyed in the last week alone, several dozen people killed or injured, and wide spread crime and riots because of these incidents all over the outer city!"

"You're going somewhere with this, right?" Xu asked in an uninterested tone of voice.

"When I agree to this alliance with your leader Matsu," Long Feng began, turning his furious gaze on the Firebender, "I expected the war to be over soon, but it's already been ten years, and what do I get? Nothing!"

"Matsu will be back soon, and we'll take care of the Fire Nation once he does." Xu said, "In the meantime, me and the others have our own work to do."

"Ah yes, one of the Avatar's friends is like _you_, correct?"

"Yep, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. She's still new to the Shinzuibenda life, but she has plenty of potential. She would have made a good ally if it wasn't for the arrow headed monk of an Avatar."

"Wouldn't it cause _less_ damage if you just recruited people like a _normal _army?"

"Easier said than done Long Fang, second generation Shinzuibendas have only just started popping up in recent years because…" The Firebender stopped mid-sentence at that point, leaving the Dai Li leader to cock an eyebrow out of curiosity.

"Because of what?"

"Let's just that finding new members of my kind is not a simple task at the moment, alright?" With a sigh, Xu turned around and strode for the double doors, "Katara left this world with the Shinigami, but it won't be long before she comes back with more of them. Me and the others will keep low for the time being, you just do your job in keeping the Earth King _blissfully unaware_ of the war, and we'll deal with the Fire Nation."

"What about the Hollows? Am I just to sit by and let those things do as they please?"

"Don't worry, I was told that a new Shinigami is in town, well let that guy deal with those for now." With that, The Firebender pulled the doors inwards and walked out of the room as they swung closed.

Long Fang sighed, then turned back and gazed at the fire, thinking back on the decision he had made only ten years earlier. He had just taken control of the Dai Li by the time he started seeing those white masked monstrosities, their eyeless sockets and demonic cries had caused him many a nightmare. Soon after, Matsu and his comrade Xu appeared before him, presenting him with an opportunity to not only end the war with the Fire Nation, but to expand the now weakened Earth Kingdom's power like never before.

The Shinzuibendas would deal a deathblow to the Fire Nation (How, Matsu did not explain), and in return, Long Fang and his men would search the Four Nations for pieces of a skull like necklace. Why it was so important to Matsu he didn't know, but it didn't matter in the long run. They found the pieces and returned them to the Shinzuibenda leader, and now they only needed to wait for the end of the war to be rewarded for those efforts.

_'Now that I think of it, I had the easier end of the bargain,' _Long Fang thought with a chuckle; '_Still, I wonder what it is those freaks have planned?'_

It was unwise to trust an ally who kept secrets from you, he knew that much. And so his men, who could also see them, spied on them from the shadows. Though so far nothing had turned up, Long Fang knew that it was only a matter of time. He would sit back for now and see what happens.

* * *

As Xu wandered down the empty city streets at night, he easily picked up the spiritual signature from the Dai Li agent that followed him in secret, and he couldn't help but smile. Long Fang was always good for a laugh he thought, sending one of his underlings to spy on him and the others; clearly he wanted to know what they were up to. Well, he wasn't going to get that satisfaction…yet.

The young man took a sharp turn around the corner and headed eastward, towards the spot where he and the Waterbender had last fought. In a few minutes, he stood before the now newly repaired bridge from the battle, clearly a few Earthbenders had taken the time to repair it, probably told of some "Unknown incident" that had destroyed it.

Shutting his eyes, Xu concentrated on the location of his unseen companion. He found his reiatsu signature once more a moment later, and he turned his head to one of the smaller houses on his left, spotting the man hiding on the other side of the building's curved roof. Realizing that he was spotted, the Dai Li agent ducked behind the roof and Xu heard the sound of the man's retreating footsteps in the distance.

Smirking, Xu let out a low whistle, and a few seconds later a blood curtailing scream filled the night air, followed by the inhuman cry from a Hollow.

_'That was fast'…_Xu thought, it appeared this new Shinigami never messed around on the job.

He hid is reiatsu well, so he had no need to worry about being found by the monster's killer. With that in mind, Xu made his way towards the bridge and leaned against its railing. He looked over the railing into the waters below, starring down hard to make out the bottom. '_Where is it, where is it...ah, there it is!'_

Something in the bottom of the water caught his eye, he grinned widely as he swiftly swung his arm in a wide arc, his red hilting sword now clutched in his hand instantly. "Burn their very existence…" He muttered, "_Kazangan-Senshu._" His sword suddenly started to turn to black smoke; he breathed in heavily and inhaled it. Exhaling, he turned his gaze to the water once more. H brought his arms up and reared his left arm back while simultaneously strike forward his right arm, palm open.

A stream of fire shot out from his palm, hitting the surface and evaporating it with the intense heat. Xu watched as a large circular clearing appeared in the water, in the middle was the object he spotted. He jumped off the bridge and into the gap; the heat from his attack would keep the gap open until he sealed his Zanpakuto.

The item that lay before him was indeed what he suspected it to be: The skull necklace. The Dai Li reported that Katara's Gigai friend-Gi he believed was its name-had tossed the thing into the river following the battle when Aang had gone into the Avatar State. "Good to have this baby back." Xu grinned sinisterly as he scooped up the necklace and stuffed it into the sleeve of his robe.

"You've done well in my absence, Xu."

Startled, The Firebender shot his head up to the bridge, where a lone figure now stood over the railing. From his voice, Xu knew he was an old man, his body covered in an old looking surcoat, the brimmed hat on his head concealing his eyes from the young man.

The Firebender chuckled happily before speaking "Welcome back, Master Matsu."

* * *

**Last Words from the Shogun:**

Salutations my friends! I have returned after a long time of delay. Sorry for the wait, but I have approached my senior year of High School, so other things need to be done first and foremost. But I'll be damned if I didn't update this story.

Anyway, not much to say about this one. Just wanted to introduce the last of the five OCs for this fic into the story, as well as incorporate the Dai Li's role into this. Katara, Ichigo, and the rest of the Avatar and Bleach gangs will be coming up soon. And feel free to take a guess at who replaced Katara as Ba Sing Se's Hollow slayer (Even though I didn't give ya any clues).

Anyways, see ya next time and Happy Holidays from the Bronx Shogun!

_Edit: This chapter has been edited for errors on Wendsday, December 17, 2008._


	15. Stop! Omake Time!

**Radio-Kon (Baby!)  
**

**Kon:** Yo! It's everyone's favorite plushie, Kon!

**Gi:** And I'm Gi-Chan! _Pyon!_ And welcome to…

**Kon/Gi: **RADIO-KON! (BABY!)

**Gi: **Bronx-Sama is having a little trouble working on the next chapter for _Soul Reaper Katara_. So he's airing this show for the time being.

**Kon:** Besides, since another idiotic writer, who shall remain nameless (CoughjedieliteCough) hasn't been giving me enough time on his fic; I decided to do a little freelance work for awhile. So let's do this Gi!

**Gi:** Yeah! You're so cool Kon-Aniki! _Pyon!_

**Kon: **Bronx knows you guys have been wondering about the story's main villains: the _Shinzuibendas_. So today we have a guest to explain about them a little bit. Give it up for the kick ass Firebender, Xu!

**Xu:** Thanks for having me, great to be here.

**Gi:** so tell us about the Shinzuibendas Xu, we're all dying to learn more about them. _Pyon!_

**Xu:** Certainly. As you already know, the Shinzuibendas are, basically, Benders with Shinigami powers. Our ability to control our respective elements is sealed away in our Zanpakuto, meaning that unless we can unleash that power with our Shikai, we're pretty much venerable against tough opponents. The colors of our Zanpakuto hilts correspond with the element we bend, for example: My hilt is red because I'm a Firebender, Qin and Katara's are blue because their Waterbenders and Zhang's is green because he's an Earthbender.

**Kon:** But about your boss, that Matsu guy who showed up in the last chapter? What's his element?

**Xu:** Well…

**Gi:** _**GI DROP KICK!!!**_

_Whack!_

_Bonk!_

**Kon: **OW!

**Xu: **WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!

**Gi:** No spoilers, Bronx-Sama would fire you if you gave away his plot secrets.

**Xu:** Oh right, forgot about that. Ask another question.

**Kon:** Well, one of the reviewers was wondering how the Shinzuibendas could summon Hollows to their side.

**Xu:** Oh that's easy; it's an ability we gained somehow when we first came into existence. We call it the _Hollow Whistle_, with it we can summon and control Hollows at will. The stronger a Shinzuibenda is, the more powerful the Hollows they can summon and control. Don't why exactly why we have that power, but I have a theory.

**Gi:** Really? Tell us!

**Xu:** Well the way I see it, Benders, being able to control the elements and all, must have a somewhat strong attachment to spirit world. So by that logic, Shinzuibendas, being spirits themselves, have a far stronger attachment, thus giving as this power.

**Gi:** Do you summon powerful Hollows Xu? If so then you must be really strong. _Pyon!_

**Kon:** Please, I bet this ass smoker is a pushover; Nee-San could be him down no problem!

**Gi:** …

**Xu:** …

**Kon:** What?

**Xu:** _BURN THEIR VERY EXISTANCES… KAZANGAN-SENSHU!!!_

**Kon:** W-wait, I just kidding, rel- _AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! IT BURNS!!!! HELP!!!!!!!_

**Gi:** I guess we can end the show here now, I gotta save Aniki. Stay tuned for the next chapter of _Soul Reaper Katara_. Bye now! _Pyon!_

**Kon:** _GI!!!! HELP ME!!!!!!_

**End**


	16. The Cat and The Baboon

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, a God of Death. As well as a new breed of fierce enemies that not even the Avatar can handle alone. But that might be the least of her concerns.

**Disclaimer:** I got nothing…

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: The Cat and the Baboon

With so many problems plaguing the Earth Kingdom Capitol these days, few people ever paid attention to the little things anymore. Like, for example, a young, spiky red haired man walking down the market streets, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his commoner's robes. From what he read in the reports, this world was suffering from a brutal war for the last hundred years, so he could understand why there seemed to be so much misery going around.

'_Still, it's pretty boring around here.'_ He thought with a sigh, _'I wish _something_ exciting would happen.'_

An explosion screamed further down the market street as the stone road, along with several vendor stands, were smash into pieces, a cloud a smoke rising as people panicked and ran away from the unseen force. The redhead stood his ground as the dust cleared, revealing a dozen white masked beasts standing in a small crater before him.

"Well," He began as he pulled a small object from his pocket, "I guess these guys will have to do." He smirked as he pressed a bottom on the object and swallowed the pill that came out.

* * *

In the weeks that followed Toshiro taking a dying Katara with him to Soul Society, Aang and the other were still trying to comprehend everything that had happened leading up to that, as well as everything that the Mod-Soul Gi, still in possession of her master's body, had told them about Hollows and Shinigami…or at least what _she _knew. The Avatar and others didn't seem to trust Gi at first, but over time they started to see her as a good friend.

"I'm so happy that they accepted me!" Gi sniffled, a basket of food in hands as she strolled down to the market, already thinking of the dinner she was planning to make. Even if she didn't know how to cook. "They sure have been down about Katara-Sama though, but I bet my special meal will cheer them all up! _Pyon_!"

The ground beneath her feet rumbled, curiously she looked on ahead and saw a stamped of people running down the road opposite of her direction. Noticing their panic stricken faces, she knew that they wouldn't watch their steps and would trample over anyone in their way to save themselves from whatever was happening. Acting quickly, the Mod-Soul tensed her legs and jumped into the air with her inhuman strength, landing swiftly on the roof of a nearby house as the stampede of people ran by her, kicking up a dust cloud as they passed by.

"Now what was that about?" Gi asked as she wrapped the basket in her arms. It was then that a massive explosion caught her ears; she turned to the source, and could see a giant cloud of smoke rising into the sky a few blocks down. "Hollows?" Setting the basket down, Gi sprinted across the rooftops towards the source of the chaos.

She stopped on top of the building closets to the chaos, and to her amazement, she saw a lone figure in a black robe, with his red hair held in a high ponytail, as he decapitated one of the dozen Hollows that surrounded him effortlessly. _'Wow, he's pretty good.' _Gi thought, watching in amazement as the Shinigami took down another three Hollows easily. However, one of the Hollows was approaching him from behind, sensing trouble, Gi pushed off from the roof and into the air, performing graceful flip before shooting down towards the Hollow, _**"GI KNEE DROP!" **_The full force of the blow drove both her and the Hollow into the ground, kicking up dust and debris upon impact.

The sudden action caught the unnamed Shinigami off guard, and stumbled a bit from the earthquake the collision had caused. "What the-" turning to the source, he spotted a young dark-skinned girl dressed in blue jump of the white masked beast she downed. Her hair now a mess from the crash, but otherwise she appeared unscratched.

"Hahaha! Gi strikes again! _Pyon_!" She exclaimed happily with a wide grin.

"Oi! Are ya crazy or somthin'? Get outta here before ya get killed!" The Shinigami shouted, already assuming that the strange girl can see him. "I don't know how ya took that thing down, but you're still gonna get torn apart if you stay-"

"Quiet! If it wasn't me you'd be a Hollow's lunch right now!" Gi snapped back at the stranger, "Show some respect to your savior, Bloody Pineapple!"

"Bloody Pineapple?" The stranger asked, confused by the girl's nickname for him.

A group of roars broke their argument, and both of them turn to see the remaining Hollows charging at them, "Hold that thought, will ya?" The Shinigami told Gi and turned to face the Hollows, "I gotta finish things up here." He held his sword before and planted two fingers at the bottom end of the blade, "Howl…" As he ran his fingers across the blade, Gi watched in awe as his weapon began to transform, "_Zabimaru_!"

His Zanpakuto was longer in length, and wider at the top, with pick-like protrusions running along its spine. With a smirk, the man reared his sword arm back and sent it flung it forward. Much to the Mod-Soul's surprise, his weapon broke into three segments held together by a thin piece of metal. The segments slashed all the Hollows across their masked faces in one go before they disintegrated and vanished.

"Heh, to easy." He said more to himself as the segments of his sword came back together. Remembering the Hollow that the girl brought down, he turned around only to see the girl slam her heel into the beast's head. The force of the blow smashed through the mask, causing a large amount of blood to gush out before its body shriveled away.

"Hahaha! I call that the _**Gi Heel Slam**_! _Pyon_!" Gi laughed before turning her blue eye gaze back at the Shinigami, "See, you need my help all along!"

"Shut up! You only took out _one _Hollow out of _twelve_! That's nothin' to be proud!" The Shinigami shouted, irritation in his voice, "Anyway, who the hell are you?"

"Who am I you ask? I am the greatest Kaizo Konpaku in Ba Sing Se! The one and only Gi! _Pyon_!" She replied, puffing out her chest proudly, "Who the hell are you, Bloody Pineapple?"

"Sixth Division Vice-Captain, Abarai Renji." He answered, slightly irritated by her nickname for him, "If you're done runnin' your mouth, I'm outta here." He turned on his heels and walked off, heading to where he left his false body. However…

"_WAIT_!"

Coming from behind him, Gi lunged on the Shinigami and wrapped his arms around him in a bone crushing embrace, with which the redhead responded in kind with a series of coughs and gasps for air, "What about Katara-Sama!? Is she alright!? Why hasn't she come back!? TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME!!!!!" She cried, tightening her death hold on him.

"_Let…go…of…_me_!_" Gagged Renji, struggling to pry the crazed girl off of him, "_I never met….this Katara person…but…_" HE finally managed to shove Gi off him and took in several much needed gulps of air. "But….I remember hearing that she was sent Karakura Town to help out another Shinigami."

"_Really_!?" Gi asked in excitement, her bright blue eyes practically sparkling at the news, "Aang-Sama will be so happy to hear that she's alive! Come on!" She grabbed the Shinigami by the arm and started running happily towards the opposite direction, dragging him in tow.

"HEY WAIT A SECOND!" Renji protested as he tried to pull his arm free from the girl's grip, "WHAT ABOUT ME BODY!?" As Gi dragged him away, Renji could see a crowd of people gathering in a circle around his false body.

* * *

"Aang-Sama!" The Mod-Soul yelled happily as she stormed through the front door and into the living room, her 'guest' in tow, "Aang-Sama, you won't believe what I-"

"He ain't here Gi; he took Momo and went gliding to clear his head." Toph spoke from the table where she and Sokka sat, taking a sip from the tea cup in her hand, "So who's your new friend?" She asked, sensing the Shinigami Gi had dragged with her.

Sokka, who had been starring into his cup in thought until now, turned his head to see the red haired, black robed man that the body snatcher was dragging behind her. His eyes widened when he saw him, "Hey, aren't you one of those…_Shinigami _guys?" He asked.

Finally pulling his arm away from Gi, the redhead turned to Sokka and spoke, "Yeah, the names Renji, Vice-Captain of-"

"_Not_ important, Bloody Pineapple!" The Mod-Soul shouted into his ear, cutting him off mid-sentence, "Get to the part about Katara-Sama! _Pyon_!"

"Will you stop calling me that!?" Renji shouted back irritably, "Damn Mod-Soul…"

"Sorry about that, she gets _real_ excited about stuff sometimes." Sokka spoke with a sheepish grin, sensing that a fight between the two might erupted, "But if you do know something about my sister," His grin faded, leaving a more serious scowl on his face, "Then please, tell us."

To this Renji sighed, a sense of pity washing over him, "Alright, This is what _I_ know about your friend."

---

From atop his place on one of the many district walls, a disheartened Aang starred across into the setting sun, his staff grasped in his hand while Momo, curled into a ball at his feet, rested after a long many hours of flying. His mind racing with the events which seemed like only yesterday, _'everything…just happened so fast…' _He thought, _'Katara…Chin…Gi…those weird Benders…what's going on!?'_

He could something rubbing against his leg, thinking it was his lemur, he sighed and looked, "Momo please, not-" He stopped short when it saw that Momo was still asleep, and what looked like a black feline creature rubbing against his leg. A small smiled formed on his face, "Well, I don't what you are, but you sure are cute."

The cat looked up at him with its golden eyes and spoke, "Thank you."

Taken by surprise, Aang jumped backwards with a yelp, causing Momo to wake up with a similar response. The lemur spotted the cat, and he gave it a low growl as it got into an attack position. But the black cat simply ignored it and turned its attention to the Avatar. "Sorry for the startle, Avatar-Dono," It said with a bow of the head, "The names Shihōin Yoruichi, and if you're worried about your friend, don't be, she's fine now."

Surprised by what it just said, Aang took two cautious steps towards the cat, still unsure if it was friend or foe, "You know something about Katara?" He asked, half-expecting an answer.

Yoruichi nodded, "That's right, and I have a way for you to see her again."

* * *

**Radio-****Urahara**** (Baby!)**

**Kisuke: **Greetings loyal readers, and welcome to _very _special Radio segment! Today, I shall introduce a new generation of superheroes, comprised from characters from both _Avatar_ and _Bleach_ to battle the forces evil!

**Kon:** I thought the fillers were over already…

**Mai:** Do I really have to do this?

**Ty Lee:** Come on Mai! This will be so much fun!

**Keigo:** I don't know these people!

**Gi:** I'm ready! _Pyon_!

**Kisuke:** Now then, allow to introduce the newly reformed hero team of justice: _**KARAKURA-RAIZER TEAM!**_

**All: **_MY VOCCATION!_

(BOOM)

**Kon: **_KARAKURA RAIZER!_

(BOOM)

**Kanonji: **_RAIZER-SPIRIT!_ BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

(BOOM)

**Tatsuki: **_RAIZER BEAST!_

(BOOM)

**Chizuru:** _RAIZER EROTIC!_

(BOOM)

**Keigo:** (Sigh) _Raizer Delicate…_

(Poof)

**Keigo: **HEY!

**Ururu: **_Raizer Tiny-Devil._ Nice to meet you…

(BOOM)

**Gi:** _RAIZER PYON! PYON!_

(BOOM)

**Ty Lee: **_RAIZER FRILLY!_

(BOOM)

**Mai:** …_Raizer Sharp…_

(BOOM)

**Kisuke: **Together this is no evil that overcome, for the fight with power of friendship!

**Mai: **Now that we're done making fools of ourselves, what are we suppose to do?

**Kisuke:** Nothing really, I thought it would funny for you all did this. I asked Suki-Chan and Jet-Kun if they wanted to join, but they turned me down.

**Kon: **YOU JUST WASTED OUR TIME FOR LAUGHS!?!?!?!?!?!?

**Ty Lee: **Don't be mean Kon; I think these suits are so cute!

**Uryu:** Thank you Ty Lee-San, I take great pride in my Quincy sewing!

**Kon: **WHERE DID YOU COME FROM!!!!

**Mai/Keigo:** Can we go now?


	17. Karakura Town

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, a God of Death. As well as a new breed of fierce enemies that not even the Avatar can handle alone. But that might be the least of her concerns.

**Disclaimer:** I got nothing…

* * *

Chapter Sixteen: Karakura Town

_CRASH!_

"…_That_ had to hurt…"

"Perhaps you should go easy on her, Kurosaki-San!"

Sitting atop one of the larger rocks, both Rukia and Kisuke watched as their orange haired companion sent the poor dark skinned girl flying into the wall on the other side of the training grounds. "Sorry Katara, I guess I got a _little_ carried away." Ichigo said embarrassingly, lifting up his massive butcher blade of a Zanpakuto and resting it on his shoulder. "How about we call it a day, we've been training for quite a while now."

Pushing herself from the wall, Katara got back to her feet, _Kaiyou Danshaku_ grasped in her hand and her water pouch still strapped on, "Thanks for your concern Ichigo, but…" She said, throwing the orange haired Shinigami a hardened look, "I can go for a little while longer." She grasped her sword with both hands and held the blade before her in a fighting stance.

Ichigo couldn't help but give her a slight smirk, "Alright then, let's go!" Both he and the Waterbender pushed off their feet and charged forward, they're weapons mere blurs as they swung at one another at incredible speed.

A small smiled formed on Kisuke's face as he watched the dual. Toshiro was right when he said that Katara's Waterbending abilities, both in human and Shinigami form, were most impressive, yet she still lacked in any form of swordsmanship. So in the weeks following her arrival in his shop, Kisuke had her dual against the much more experienced Ichigo to improve her swordplay.(1)

"So Kuchiki-San, I hear that you've been teaching Katara-Chan a little Kido, correct?" Kisuke asked slyly.

"Yes, her skills in that area are a little sloppy, but she has made rather considerable progress." Rukia answered distractedly, more focused on the fight before her, "Even though she hasn't had her powers for long, she's making near excellent progress."

At this, a small chuckle escaped the sandal hat man's lips, "Perhaps what drives her to improve is the same as what drives Kurosaki-San."

"_**Hadou 31: Shakkahou!"**_

At the sound of the Kido spell, Kisuke and Rukia turned to see the Waterbender as she fired a red ball of energy from her palm toward her opponent. Ichigo was able to jump to the side of the attack as it hit a rock formation, destroying it in a giant explosion. "Damn, that was close!" Ichigo sighed, mentally thanking his quick reflexes…

…Which he did so once more, as Katara suddenly appeared in front of him, her sword lowered at her side. She raised her weapon upward towards the boy, but Ichigo heaved his own sword up and blocked the blow before pushing the girl back with a hard shove. "That's how you wanna do it, fine…" Ichigo raised his sword overhead, an aura surrounding the blade. He then swung down hard, _**"**__**Getsuga Tenshō!"**_ A massive wave of blue energy shot out from his weapon and flew straight for Katara.

Time seemed to slow down around her as Katara instantly undid the cork of her water pouch while chanting "Wash away all…" she tilted the pouch at an angle, letting the water inside pour out, "_Kaiyou Danshaku!_" Her weapon turned into small liquid droplets and merged with the pouring water. She then twisted her arms forwards at Ichigo's attack, the water swirling in front of her, before freezing over into a frozen shield.

Ichigo's attack clashed head on against Katara's ice shield, both techniques struggled against one another for supremacy. After about several intense seconds, the Getsuga and the shield dissipated, water and dust mingling together as both Shinigami stood face to face, panting heavily with exhaustion. The droplets of the Waterbender's weapon came together, reforming back into a solid katana once more before she returned the weapon to its sheath.

"Nice work, Ichigo." She complemented with a smile.

"You too." Ichigo replied.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Cheered the hat wearing shopkeeper, clapping rapidly as both he and the raven haired girl jumped from their position, "Katara-Chan, your ability to handle a sword is much better than it was when we first met!" He said with a smirk, "With enough practice you might even best Kurosaki-San in an honest sword fight one day!"

With a child like smile, Katara bowed at the waist before Kisuke, "Thank you for your training Mr. Urahara," She said as she rose back to her full height, a sheepish grin plastered on her face, "I certainly feel a lot stronger now."

"That's for sure." Groaned Ichigo as he made for the exit, rubbing his sore forearm before placing his giant sword on his back once more, "That's the last time I wake up at five in the morning for sword practice. Now I gotta go to school all worn out like this!"

"Oh, I guess we did lose track of time." Rukia said and turned to the Waterbender, "Come on Katara, let's get our Gigai and…" She spotted Katara sitting against a small rock a few yards from her, eyes shut and sword leaning beside her. With a shrewd sigh, Rukia walked up to her, and planted a well aimed open palm strike to the girl's forehead.

The back of the dark skinned girl's head smacked agianst the rock, and she woke up with a painful yelp, "Ow!" She yelled, rubbing the lump that formed in the back of her head.

"Sorry to wake you from your beauty sleep, but we have a few _important _things to attain to today." She said, lifting the girl up the arm and dragging her worn out body across the training grounds.

"I suppose that can't wait till later, huh?" A tired Katara asked. When the raven haired woman shook her head, Katara sighed, "I thought so."

* * *

Starring down at the black cat in front of them, Aang, Sokka, Toph, Gi and Renji followed it down through a secret tunnel deep below the Earth Kingdom Capitol. Their only source of light from the tunnel's entrance slowly fading as they moved deeper into the Earth, leaving only the still darkness that grew every larger with each step. "Aang, are you sure we can trust this cat?" Sokka asked, still skeptical about the talking cat's words, though a talking cat was, in itself, hard to believe.

"Don't worry, Yoruichi is telling the truth." Aang replied, turning his gaze to Toph, "Ain't that right Toph?"

"Yeah, but I still don't trust it." The blind Earthbender said, "Not every day a strange animal comes to help us you know."

Aang opened his mouth to say something, but then he noticed their Mod-Soul companion was rather fidgety in her pace, her arms were crossed over her as she nervously looked from one side of the tunnel to the other. "Gi, are you alright?" He asked.

Pausing in her nervous walk, the Mod-Soul turned her blue eyes towards the monk, flashing him her usual cocky smile "I'm f-fine Aang-Sama. N-nothing is w-wrong here…" She stammered.

Renji, however, couldn't help but grinning menicingly, "Oh, you don't seem to like scary places, do ya Mod-Soul?" He teased, "If ya too yellow, you can always turn back…" He learned closer to Gi and shrewdly whispered in her ear, "_Baby Pill._" He was soundly meet with an inhuman punch to the face, causing him to fall flat on his back. He rolled on ground, howling in pain as he cupped his hands over his now broken and bloody nose.

"_I'M NOT SCARED OF NOTHIN' YOU BLOODY PINEAPPLE!_" She screeched at the red haired Shinigami, "_THE MIGHTY GI KNOWS NO FEAR! PYON!_"

"_YA DIDN'T HAVE TO PUNCH ME!_" Renji snapped back, his voice muffled due to his broken nose, "_BESIDES, YOU'RE AN ODVIOUS LIAR! IF YOU DIDN'T WANNA COME DOWN HER, THEN YA SHOULD HAVE STAYED OUTSIDE!!!_"

"_WHY DON'T YOU STAY OUTSIDE THEN, BLOODY PINAPPLE!?"_

"_I AIN'T THE SCARED ONE HERE, BABY PILL!"_

"That's enough please." The calm voice of Yoruichi called out, "Here we are." The Shinigami and the Mod-Soul paused their fighting and turned to what appeared to be the end of the tunnel, where the cat and the others now stood. They're jaws hung loose when they laid eyes upon the massive pair of iron doors at the end, flanked on either side by two equally large pillars rigged to keep the tunnel from caving in.

Like Gi and Renji, the others were also stunned by the sheer size of the doors. Sokka was the first to snap out of his daze and spoke, "What's something like this doing at the bottom of Ba Sing Se?"

"An old friend erected this door many years ago." Yoruichi began, "It was used to link this world with the world that Karakura town is located, and it's how he and I got here without drawing any attention from Soul Society. I've already informed my friend that you'll be coming, so he'll be expecting you."

"I don't know about this. How can we be sure this isn't a trick?" Toph asked, suspicious of the cat's motives, "And why are you helping us anyway?"

Yoruichi turned its head, its golden eyes falling on the blind girl and the others, "I understand you have every reason _not_ to trust me, but you should know that the people that attacked you before, the Shinzuibendas, are the least of our concerns."

"What do you mean?" Aang asked.

It was at this point that Renji answered him, "Soul Society was recently betrayed by three capitan ranked Shinigami. One of them was a man named Aizen Sosuke, who took something when he…" The Shinigami's words trailed off for a moment, Aang could see that he had trouble retelling the events, something bad must have happened. "When he nearly killed a friend of mine and fled to Hueco Mundo, the world of the Hollows."

"So as you can guess, everything over there is getting rather tense. Soul Society has been closely monitoring every spirit that's been going between worlds, looking for any threats. Yet my friend felt it necessary to have some measure of _secrecy_ for things to get done." The cat placed a paw on the doors; and they slowly swung inward as a blinding light shined through the crack. "We'll talk about that another time though, Run through here and don't stop until you reach the other side. Understood?"

Before answering, the Avatar turned his head to the others, "You still up for this guys?"

"I still say this is crazy, but…" Sokka began, "I suppose we'll be going through _a lot_ of this in the near future, so why not?"

Toph smirked, "Should be fun going to a new world. I'm ready."

"Come on! Let's go find Katara-Sama! _Pyon_!" Gi cheered.

The monk turned let his gaze fall on Renji, who simply raised his hands up before saying, "I'm under orders to stay in Ba Sing Se, but I'll keep my mouth shut about this." He then muttered under his breath, _"I probably still owe Urahara-San for the last time I stayed at his shop anyway."_

"Thanks Renji," Aang smiled, "You wouldn't mind if I you asked to watch after Momo for awhile, would you?"

To this, the man shrugged, "Nah, I don't mind. Not much else to do in this city."

With a warm hearted chuckle to his statement, Aang turned back to Yoruichi, who notice the determination in his eyes, "We're ready."

A slight grin appeared on the cat's face, _'What an interesting Avatar we have here.' _"Alright then, keep running through and don't stop!"

Nodding, the Avatar pushed off from his feet, using his Airbending to increase his speed as he bolted through the gates with amazing speed. An overly excited Gi ran through the gate next, shouted her usual "Pyon!" as she did so. Laughing at both their eagerness, Toph and Sokka ran after them, fading into the light just as the gates swung shut once more.

For a moment, silence shrouded the tunnel, but was soon shattered when the Redhead spoke up, "Ya know, even if they aren't as serious a threat as Aizen, the Shinzuibendas are still gonna be trouble."

"I'm aware of that Renji," Yoruichi spoke, never tearing her gaze away from the gate, "But we can't forget the fact that a war is about to come our way soon."

"Yeah, and I doubt this world can handle _two_ of those."

* * *

He had no idea where he was going, or how long this seemingly dark tunneled stretched, Aang simply kept running as the cat had told him. He reverted back to normal running speed upon entering, giving his friends a chance to catch up. He took a quick glance behind him, and saw that the Mod-Soul had caught up to him first, while Toph and Sokka were a little farther behind.

As Aang was about to urge them to pick up their pace, a sudden light appeared behind them, moving ever close to the group. The Avatar was puzzled for moment before whatever it was coming came into view. He had no idea what the black object was, but it was like a massive machine, making him feel nostalgic of the time Azula and her friends pursued them with their giant mobile transport.

"Sokka! Toph! Hurry!" He shouted, finally realizing why Yoruichi told them to run. Without a second thought, the adrenaline pumped through their legs like crazy allowing them to catch up with Aang and Gi, followed closely by their pursuing object.

The walls of the seemingly endless corridor flashed by them in a blur, to continue running was the only thing preoccupying their minds. After what felt like forever, the young monk notice a white light just ahead of the endless darkness. _'We're almost there!' _He glanced back, the giant black thing now only three wards away and getting closer.

"We're not gonna make it!" Gi worriedly shouted.

"We will!" Aang responded, he suddenly stopped in his running and used the momentum, along with his Airbending, to push off his feet and fly backwards, putting himself between the machine and his friends.

Before the other could stop and say what he was doing, Aang shot both arms outwards at them, and a powerful burst of wind propelled them forward. Everything for them happened in a flash, the burst of wind pushing all three of them forward and into the exit of light. Aang himself, just as the machine was about to run him over, used his Airbending to pushed forward towards the exit. Leaving the machine in the dust.

* * *

"…and that's how I found out I can use my Waterbending to heal people."

"_Sugoi_! That must have been really painful Katara-Chan!"

In the classroom of Karakura High School, Katara finished her story and went back to her Bento box while the red haired, big cheasted female continued to barrage her with questions, "Have you ever been to this Fire Nation before? Did you ever find your flying buffalo? Can you bend soda too?"

Katara smiled sheepishly, her new friend was full of curiosity, "Uh….Orihime, maybe we should talk about this world for a bit." She said, "I really haven't gotten a chance to look around town since I got here, and I have so many questions myself."

"Right, how about I take you on a tour after school then?"

From his desk, Ichigo starred at the two girls as they continued talking, "Their getting along well_."_ He mumbled with a yawn, still exhausted from their training session. "Hey Rukia, I overheard you and Urahara talking about Katara a couple days back, something about her being _different_. What was that about?"

Sitting beside him, the small female darted her violet eyes at him and spoke, "What I meant was that her powers are, though very slightly, different from a Shinigami's. Hitsugaya-Taicho said that she was a Shinzuibenda."

"Shin-what?"

"A Bender with Shinigami powers. The 12th Division is still trying to find whatever information they have on them. From what Katara told us, the ones she faced are up to something dangerous."

"Guess we'll be getting are hands dirty soon huh?"

"Probably at this rate, and we still have-" Before Rukia could finish, a soft buzzing from her bag caught her attention. She reached inside and ruffled through it for a moment before pulling out her 'Soul Phone.' She flipped it opened and scanned through the massage on the screen, "Looks like we got work to do." She said, pushing herself off her seat as she and Ichigo made for the door, "Katara."

Overhearing her, Katara turned and nodded before going to Orihime, "See ya later Orihime." She bowed respectfully before getting to her feet and following the other two Shinigami. "I got some pest to take care of."

* * *

_**That smell…**_

_**Someone with loads of Reiatsu…**_

_**Back off you weaklings, that soul's mine!**_

_**The hell with you, it's mine!**_

_**We'll see about that!**_

* * *

_**Shinigami Cup: Golden!**_

**Rangiku: **_Soooo _Taicho…what do you think of Katara-San?

**Toshiro:** She's a good person, why do you ask?

**Rangiku: **Ah? You mean you don't think of her any other way after that hug last-

**Toshiro:** Wha! Who told you about that!?

**Rangiku:** From Yachiru, she spied on you two the last time Katara-San was here.

**Toshiro: **…_Damn her_…

**Shunsui:** Oh? You have a new Girlfriend, Hitsugaya-Taicho?

**Toshiro: **This doesn't concern you of all people!

**Rangiku:** He's too shy to admit it.

**Shunsui: **How cute! Maybe when Hinamori-Chan wakes up, you and those two ladies can enjoy a three-

**Toshiro:** _**BOTH OF YOU GET OUT!!!!!!!**_

* * *

**Last Words from the Shogun:**

1: Thanks to _Orgo_ for pointing out that Katara needed more swordsmenship training then anything else at the moment. Slipped my mind for some reason. XP

Guess who just graduated? If you can't guess, me! Meaning that the chances for more updates will be much higher than in recent years, as I have yet abandoned this fic yet! So stayed tuned for what I'm hoping will be more updates to this bad boy, and thanks for your patience. So long for now!


	18. Chapter Special: Were We Not One

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, a God of Death. As well as a new breed of fierce enemies that not even the Avatar can handle alone. But that might be the least of her concerns.

**Disclaimer: **Avatar: The Last Airbender is the rightful property of Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bleach is the rightful property of Tite Kubo.

* * *

Chapter Special: Were We Not One

Within the ruins that was once one of the marvelous archways of Seireitei, the Waterbender watched helplessly as the familiar blue skinned, fish like being casually strode to the side of the mysterious strange before her. His messy dark brown hair and pale white skin gave him a look of dread—even the dark marks around his eyes only served to make him seem more dangerous. He was dressed in an all white coat with a thick, matching color fur like collar and extremely long nails protruding from his fingers.

"Kaiyou Danshaku, your time as this Shinigami's slave is over." The man spoke stoically, "I have given you freedom, the chance to shape your own destiny."

"And for that you have my thanks, Muramasa-Sama." Kaiyou said as he stood beside him, bowing his head in respect.

"…_K-Kaiyou_…" Katara whimpered, her katana nearly slipping from her hand, "Kaiyou Danshaku!"

The fish like Zanpakuto turned his head to the girl, red eyes starring sharply into her own blue ones, "You and I no longer walk the same path girl, what becomes of you now is no concern of mine." It said.

"What?" Her blue eyes widened in shock, "Do you even believe what you're saying!? What did you do to him Muramasa?!"

"I have shown him the light," Was Muramasa's reply, "I have shown him the tyranny of the Shinigami, how they force we Zanpakuto under their control, abusing us for their own selfish gain." He placed a hand on fish like Zanpakuto's shoulder, "Your former slave is now free to pursue his own fate, one that does not involve _you_."

"_Tyranny?_ I would _never_treat him like that! Kaiyou, you know that, you're practically a part of my family! You know that!" Katara shouted, liquid beginning to form in her eyes, "Please, don't listen to him, look what he's done to Soul Society, looks what he's done to everyone here!"

"I grow tired of your babbling." Turning away from Katara, Muramasa gestured to his new ally, "Kaiyou, show to her you're newly gained independence."

"Of course," With that, Kaiyou raised his right arm, a long stream of water formed in his hand, changing its shape into a sword before freezing over. He pointed his new weapon at the Waterbending Shinzuibenda, red eyes starring hard on his former partner.

"_Kaiyou…don't…_" Katara pleaded, instinctively tightening the grip on her sword.

Before she knew it, Kaiyou Danshaku—her Zanpakuto, partner, and, more importantly to her, friend—suddenly appeared right in front of her and brought his ice sword to bear.

* * *

**Last Words from the Shogun:**

Why hello their everyone, enjoying the summer?

If you've seen the new filler arc in the Bleach anime, you'll get the gist of this. I'm still working on the actually chapter, so I thought I give you something to keep you entertained until the its ready. To be honest, this whole "Zanpakuto turning against their maters" thing is pretty fun to watch.

P.S: Sode no Shirayuki is cute.


	19. Reunion amongst the Damned

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, a God of Death. As well as a new breed of fierce enemies that not even the Avatar can handle alone. But that might be the least of her concerns.

**Disclaimer****: **Avatar: The Last Airbender is the rightful property of Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bleach is the rightful property of Tite Kubo.

* * *

Chapter Seventeen: Reunion amongst the Damned

Aang moaned softly as he laid face first on the ground, small pebbles dug into his skin, serving only to irritate him slightly. _That was a bad idea._ He thought wearily, lamenting on his last minute actions in the portal. He pushed himself off the ground and slowly rose to his feet. "Everyone alright?" He asked, turning to the others behind him.

Sokka, Toph, and Gi lay a few yards behind him, the young Water Tribe boy was the first to get to his feet, "That was our best landing yet Aang." Sokka said sarcastically.

"Yeah Twinkle Toes, be a bit more careful next time." Toph grunted, getting to her feet, "I don't know what was worse, the fall or the thing that was after us back there."

"Sorry guys," An embarrassed Aang mumbled, "What about you Gi, you Okay?" He called at to the Mod-Soul, but received no response. "Gi?"

The body possessing pill lay sprawled on the floor a few feet away from the group, a large bumped had formed on her head, caused by the rock that laid by her. "_Huhhhhhh…._"She moaned, her eyes in a daze.

Sokka let out a pitiful sigh at the sight, "Poor girl." He said, "Where are we anyway?"

"Not sure," The Avatar looked around, the group standing in the middle of what looked like a desert landscape with huge rock formation that almost reached into the sky, "Looks like we're still in the Earth Kingdom."

"I'm not so sure about that Aang." Kneeling down, Toph placed a hand on the ground beneath her, silver eyes shut as her Seismic Sense kicked in, allowing her to "see" the world around her. "This might sound kinda strange, but I think we're underground."

"What? That's impossible; we've got the sky above us." Sokka said, pointing upwards, "There's no way we can be-"

"She is absolutely correct, you are indeed underground. Underneath _my_ shop, to be exact." Starttled, Aang and the others looked up, spotting a strange man standing atop one of the rock formations before them. To everyone's surprise, the man jumped off from the rock, falling swiftly through the air before effortlessly landing on his feet. His green shirt and pants were covered with a long green coat, and went well with the green and white strapped bucket hat that covered his messy blonde hair.

"I'm Urahara Kisuke, allow me to be the first to welcome you and your friends to our world, Avatar-Dono." He greeted with a polite bow, "It's an honor to meet you—the master of all the elements—in person."

* * *

To normal human eyes, the skies above Karakura appeared to be beautiful and clear, symoblizing a perfect day for it's citizens. To those who could see spirits, however, the blue skis were choked with legions of terrible beasts, emerging from the various portals that opened above the town.

Katara shot towards the nearest group of Hollows, with sword in hand she spun herself into a half circle, her blade neatly slicing through three of the beasts. She clenched her teeth as she quickly shifted into a guard stance, and blocked a blade-like appendage from an attacking Hollow, she then sliced the offending arm off its host, and the white masked demon screaming in agony before the Waterbender plunged her blade through its head.

Her instincts suddenly warned her of danger; she looked back and saw two more beasts coming from behind. Swiftly the girl sidestepped the first attacker's claw and brought her sword down on it, the Hollow's head cleaved in two. Its comrade let out an inhuman roar and charged, but stopped in its tracks when Katara brought her left hand up, "_**Hadou 31: Shakkahou**__!_" A red sphere of energy shot out from her palm, it slammed into the Hollow's mid-section, and the force of the following explosion tore the beast in half.

"_**Gestuga Tenshō!**_" A blue wave from below caught Katara's attention, she looked towards the Hollow-filled street, and spotted Ichigo surging forward with Rukia not too far behind him. The boy's massive Zanpakuto—Zangetsu, he said its name was—combined with his own fighting prowess, made quick work beasts that stood before him. Behind him the raven haired girl unleashed a _Sōkatsui_ kido spell, several blue streams of energy spilling from her palm and incenertaring whatever Hollows they touched.

_They've been at this longer than I have, I don't think I could ever match them._ She thought briefly before returning her focus to the fight. She leaned back from a swiping claw, then straightened herself up and plunged her sword into her attacker's chest, then began to move the blade upwards through the Hollow's body. Katara effortlessly sidestepping the spray of blood that gushed out of the monster's severed halves before vanishing into dust.

_why are there so many of these things? There's no end to them…_

"Katara, stay focused!" Rukia warned as she jumped up into the air and came down on a Hollow with her sword. "You can't afford to hesitate right now!"

"I know!" The Waterbender called out, shifting herself into a defensive stance, "Wash away all, _Kaiyou Danshaku_!" Her sword dissolved into countless little droplets, merging together with the water from her now opened pouch, as well as from the various puddles on street level. Dozens of more Hollows descended on her, Katara whirled around gracefully, and two long, refined streams of water followed the movements of her hands. She flung her arms outwards, and the streams obediently stretched out and sliced several Hollows to shreds. She then spread her arms outwards to either side of her, the water streams spilt into several smaller, thinner bodies before solidifying into ice, which she then sent flying forward, impaling several more of the beasts.

"Damn it, there's no end to them!" Growled Ichigo, slicing another Hollow in half. "Oi Rukia, Have you figured out what's causing all this?"

"I am not sure of it, but..." The shorter girl ducked from swiping claw, she swung her sword in a graceful arc, cleaving her attacker's abdomen. "I think I just felt a high level of Reiatsu appear at Urahara's shop."

"His shop? What's going on over there?" Ichigo asked, to which Rukia was about to respond until Katara called out from above. Brining the two back into the battle at hand.

"Ichigo! Rukia! Their pulling back!" She was right, the last few Hollows pulled away from the two warriors on the ground, rejoining the rest of their comrades as they took off deeper into town. "I think their heading for the shop!" Katara said.

"Then that's where we're heading, c'mon girls!" Brown eyes setteling on the waves of white masked beasts in the sky, the orange haired youth pushed of his feet into a mad sprint, shocking his dark haired companion.

"Ichigo wait!" Rukia shouted, her words falling on deaf ears, "Damn it, Katara lets go!" The Waterbender nodded, and quickly dropped back down to the street beside Rukia. The two girls then sped off, following close behind their male friend.

* * *

Though surprised by the stranger's sudden appearance, Aang quickly returned the man's greeting with a polite bow of his own. "It's nice to meet you Urahara, you can call me Aang. And these are my friends." He gestured to the others behind him.

"The name's Toph." Spoke the sliver eyed girl, suspicious of the strange man. _He was standing on that rock—on _Earth_, but I still couldn't sense him. What's up with that?_

"I'm Sokka, Katara's older brother. And I never got to thank you for helping me and Toph out of that mess before." The dark skinned youth said before pointing to the still unconscious body snatcher, "And that's Gi, our Mod-Soul…thing."

Soft moans could be heard coming from Gi, and the group turned to see the female pill slowly rising into a sitting position. "_I'm okay…_" She mumbled, rubbing the sore lump that had formed in the back of her head. She looked towards the group, naive blue eyes looking up at the newcomer, "Whose he?" She asked, quickly turning her head to the sides, taking in their new surroundings. "Did we make it? _Pyon_."

"Why yes Gi-Chan, you made it." Answered Urahara with a slight smirk, "Katara-Chan told me much about you guys. Though I take it she never got around to telling you about her new…_gift_."

The group didn't say a word, their thoughts on the last time they saw their Waterbending friend. "I didn't really understand what was happening," Spoke the Avatar, brown eyes darting away from the man before him, "From what Gi told us, Katara had these…_Shinigami_ powers for awhile. But why didn't she tell us?"

For his part, Urahara stared down at the young monk, contemplating on what to say. _Perhaps it's best that they know why. _"You may not remember it, but you three came across a Hollow on the day Katara-Chan got her powers, and all of you were on the brink of death." He said, garnering the group's attention, "Aang-Dono, you should be well aware that—as the Avatar—you posses a high level of Reiatsu. And an almost dangerous level at that.

"Your friend told me about how you and the others were wandering through a desert after losing your bison, and that when you encountered the Sandbenders that took him, you went into the Avatar State in anger. Correct?" Aang remained silent, "Katara-Chan's powers were dormant inside her, waiting for a chance to be unleashed. She believes that, while trying to get you to calm down, you're Reiatsu energy awoken her powers a bit, and eventually she received her Shinigami powers."

The young Airbender found himself unable to form word, the blonde man's explanation sinking deep into his mind. He lowered his head dismally, brown orbs starting down at his feet, "You mean everything that's happened her…was my fault?"

Kisuke, seeing the pain in the monk's eyes, gave out a light cough, clearing his throat before speaking, "No reason for you to be blamed Aang-Dono, Katara-Chan's new powers have not harmed her anyway." He assured him, flashing him a comforting smile, "On the contrary, she's benefited greatly from it. Of course you'll have to see it for yourself to understand."

"Then where is Katara?" Sokka asked, "I'm sure she'll be surprised to see us."

"About that…" The ground beneath them shook violently, throwing the newcomers off their feet. Kisuke was able maintain his balance with little effort, and continued with his sentence normally, "The moment you guys arrived, a massive number of Hollows appeared. And I'd imagine that their swarming around my humble little shop up above, waiting to pick at Aang-Dono's Reiatsu."

The ground shook once more, its sheet force sending several of the rock formations crumble to the floor. "I think he's right guys, I can only sense a few of the freaks already!" Toph spoke, sensing several of the aforementioned Hollows above them. "Their pondin' on the ground, I think their trying to get in!"

"Only a matter time before they get here," Said Urahara in a matter-of-factly tone, "Aang-Dono, if I may make a suggestion. What's say you and I head up top and fend them off until help arrives? Their only here for _you_, so the others should be safe down here."

"You're kidding? If what you said was true, then Aang can't even handle _one_ those things by himself, let alone a whole army!" Protested Sokka, "We may not have a better chance either, but at least let us help!"

"Sokka's right, we aren't letting Twinkle Toes goes out their alone!" Roared Toph, "We're coming to."

"Yeah! _Pyon!_" Yelled Gi.

The sandal hat man couldn't help but chuckle. _You have some loyal friends, Aang-Dono. _"Alright then, let's get going everyone. My other shop workers are out of town at the moment, so we'll be in for quite a fight."

* * *

By the time the three Shinigami arrived at the shop, they gasped as they saw several Hollowd pounding away at the dirt floor—attempting to gain entrance into the training grounds below. Raising Zangetsu up high, Ichigo surged forward and brought his weapon down on one of the Hollows—the cold steel cleaving through soft flesh and solid bone—before finishing its gruesome task of slicing the thing in half.

The other beasts, bearing witness to the death of their comrade, turned to Ichigo, howling out in one, high pitched, demonic voice, however, they failed to see the two female sword wielders coming down from above, and they were instantly frozen in place from Katara's Waterbending before both Rukia rushed in and made quick work of them in a few, graceful strokes.

Landing effortlessly beside them, Katara turned and ran to the shop entrance, "You guys hold them off, and I'll check what's going on." She called out, her arm outstretched for the door. However, a group of Hollows dropped down before her, forcing her to stop in her run. The beasts growled, their tongues slithering their bleached lips sickly.

"I don't have time for you!" Katara growled, throwing her arms behind her, the ice she had used previously turning into water before slithering to her in two long tendrils.

She readied herself for their coming attack, but it never came. The doors to the shop slid open at that moment, and a hug gust of wind blew forward, catching the girl and the Hollows unprepared. The white faced demons flew forward from the sudden wind and past Katara, who froze her own feet in order to stay in place.

A few yards behind Katara, Ichigo, Rukia, and the Hollows that surrounded them paused in the battle, the sudden surge of spiritual energy forcing their gazes towards the front entrance. _This is the Reiatsu from before, but whose is it? _Thought a stunned Rukia, the sheer spirit pressure nearly overwhelming her.

"Ah, glad you could join us, my friends." Shaken from her surprise, Katara could see the stripped hat wearing shopkeeper emerging from his the door, a pleasant smile creasing his face, "Katara-Chan, look who came all this way to see you…"

He casually stepped to the side, reveling the young boy that stood behind him. The Waterbender's eyes grew wide in surprise, her lips began trembling, and she mentally forced herself to speak, "_Aang_?"

The young monk starred up at her in shock, but managed a slight smile after a brief moment, "Hey Katara."

Time seemed to had stopped around her, all thoughts of the demonic army that surrounded their small group vanishing from her mind that very moment. Only when she caught sight of her brother Sokka, Toph and Gi standing behind the monk did her mind draw a complete blank.

Words were lost to her.

"Heads up." The dismembered head of a Hollow fell at Katara's feet, brining her back to the reality around her. She looked up and saw Kisuke hovering overhead, his cane now replaced with a long sword. "We can save the reunion for _after_ the battle." He said cheerfully, his victim's body disintegrating.

With a quick nod, the Waterbender turned back to the others before her, a small but warm smile spreading along her face. "Let's do this."

* * *

"_What do you mean you can't find the Avatar?!_"

The two Dai Li agents fidgeted slightly as an enraged Long Feng shouted, his voice echoing off the walls of his office. "W-we've looked all over the city for him and his friends, Long Feng sir," Spoke one of the agents, not daring to look the Earth King's _loyal_ attendant in the eye. "We can't explain where he went, perhaps he left the city in defeat."

"Idiots! We still have his sky bison, remember? I already know that he won't abandon Ba Sing Se without it!" Long Feng growled, "Get out of my sight!" Taking a fearful bow, the agents turned towards the double doors as they swung open, walking past the two new individuals as they made their way out, the doors closing with a soft _thud_. With contempt, Long Feng eyed the two newcomers, recognizing the dirty cloaked elderly man, and his shorter red garbed companion. "Matsu, I was told you we're in town, welcome back to Ba Sing Se."

"Spare me your sarcasm Long Feng." Grunted the old man in a low, but powerful voice, "I know the Avatar vanished under _your _watch."

A snarl twisted itself on the Dai Li leader's face, a part of him wishing he could throw these two freaks of nature out of his office, and his life as well. "Somehow his small band has manage to elude us, but I assure you he couldn't not left this city, we-"

"Oh but he has left Long Feng," Interrupted the red garbed Firebender, crimson eyes starring up at the human. A mocking sneer on his face, "If fact, he's left this _world_."

Stunned by the sudden news, Long Feng starred at the two men in disbelief, "What? How is that even possible?"

"I told you before that the Soul Society had sent another Shinigami after Katara left. He must have somehow helped Aang." Xu said, a part of him enjoying Long Feng's confusion.

"Make no mistake though, he will return soon enough, along with more Shinigami to stop us." Matsu himself said, one dark eye starting up at his mortal ally. "I told you _not _take them lightly."

Before the Dai Li head could retort, a sudden wave of pressure washed over him. He looked upon the old Shinzuibenda, realizing that it was coming from him. His posture gave way slightly, forcing himself not to drop to his knees from the force. "_Matsu please…I don't understand any of this Shinigami nonsense!_" He spoke in choked words, "_What am I suppose to do!_"

The spirit pressure gave way, and Long Feng recklessly leaned over his desk, taking in gulps of much needed air. Looking back up, he watched as both Matsu and Xu made for the door, but not before the former stopped in front of it, turning back to Long Feng.

"Now that I'm here…do whatever _I _say."

* * *

_**Shinigami Cup: Golden!**_

**Ichigo: **Wow…that must be that Avatar guy Katara was talking about. That's some Reiatsu he has there…

**Rukia: **Ichigo! Look out!

**Ichigo: **Huh?

_**RAAAAAGGHHHHH!**_

**Ichigo: **_WAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!_

**Sokka: **Is…he gonna be alright?

**Kisuke: **No need to worry Sokka-Kun, Kurosaki-San goes through this _all_ the time. Isn't that right Kuchiki-San?

**Rukia: **_Baka!_ Their dog pilling on him!

**Toph:** And I thought _one _of those things was bad news.

**Ichigo: **_STOP LOOKING AND HELP!_

* * *

**Last Words from the Shogun:**

To those who celebrate Christmas: Marry Christmas! To those who don't: Marry Christmas all the same! Here's a gift from me to you.

Even though I said I'd try to update SRK more often than before after Graduation, other stuff in life got in the way. You know: looking for a job, playing Modern Warfare 2 online, doing another crossover story, things like that.

Thats why the last update was a special based on the Zanpakuto filler arc, as a way of giving you something to enjoy and showing that I haven't abandon this story. The result of that though was—more or less—hated.

Anyway, here is the last update for 2009, and here to more frequent ones in 2010. See ya next year!


	20. Origins of the Shinzuibendas

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, a God of Death. As well as a new breed of fierce enemies that not even the Avatar can handle alone. But that might be the least of her concerns.

**Disclaimer****: **Avatar: The Last Airbender is the rightful property of Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bleach is the rightful property of Tite Kubo.

* * *

Chapter Eighteen: Origins of the Shinzuibendas

_How long has it been already? How many times have I seen the sun rise and set? The days are blurs to me now, almost as if time wasn't moving at all…_

The setting sun cast an orange color in the skies above, and at the vast landscape below. Perched atop one of the watch towers of Ba Sing Se's outer walls, the old man stared out into the distance, a cool breeze blowing against his aged face. Below him, just outside the wall laid the ruined remains of the Fire Nation's massive drill, a living testament to their tyrannical determination to subjugate all within the city, the so called last bastion of hope in this war.

_I am this world's only hope now, and I will not be stopped by anyone. Not by the Shinigami, and not by the Avatar._

"Master Matsu." The familiar voice called out, and he turned his gaze away from the tranquil scene and looked down from the watchtower, where his red Dai Li garbed comrade stood, "Sorry to interrupted sir," Xu apologized, red eyes gazing up at his superior. "But I must speak with you on what to do with the two Firebenders here in the city."

"Your people will lose this war at our hands Xu," Matsu said, aged blue eyes starring down at his younger bender's fiery red ones, "What difference does it make if a few of them are here?"

"On the contrary master, they aren't just any Firebenders: They're members of the royal family itself. The Dragon of the West, Iroh, and the banished Prince Zuko. Last I heard they were deemed as traitors to the Fire Nation."

"Interesting, perhaps they have come here to seek refuge, a bold move considering who they are. Tell me, how did you come across this information?"

A slight smirk appeared on the Firebender's face, "You can thank the Dai Li for that." Stepping to the side, he reveled a younger looking boy that stood quietly behind him. His brown eyes were covered slightly by his messy, matching colored hair, but the older Shinzuibenda could still see the emptiness in them. "This is Jet, a refugee that the Dai Li had to…_reeducate_, before sending him out to society once more." Said Xu, "He claimed to had fought the prince before being arrested by Long Fang's men, isn't that right Jet?"

"_Yes, I had seen the old man heating his tea with his Firebending before entering the city through the transit system._" Replied Jet bluntly, his voice deprived of emotion. "_They're working in a local tea shop in the outer city._"

"I assume you took the time to investigate the matter further Xu?" Matsu asked, intrigued.

"Why yes I did," Stated Xu with a matter-of-factly tone of voice, "On the day the Waterbender Katara left, I had Zhang go to where they lived to kill them. Unfortunately a Shinigami got in the way and he failed. Will they present a problem to our plans master?"

"Unlikely but it is best to tie up loose ends, so have Qin and Zhang eliminate them." Ordered Matsu, turning back to the ever setting sun over the horizon. "If one Shinzuibenda could not dispose of them, then perhaps two will have a better chance."

"Of course master," Said Xu, bowing at the waist, "I'm sure Zhang will be more than happy to have another go at it. In the meantime," He turned his face Jet, abysmal eyes starring back at the Shinzuibenda. "Jet, Long Fang has arranged a new home for you within the inner city, close to the Avatar's home. Report back to him once the Avatar and his friends return. Understood?"

"_Yes master, I understand_." A hypnotic Jet replied obediently.

The Firebender smirking menacingly. "Good boy."

* * *

The struggle had taken hours, but the timely arrival of the Avatar and his friends was of much relief to their new Shinigami friends and allies. Their combined efforts proved too much for the hollow hordes as their forces fell in droves, eventually the remaining few, fighting back their bestial instincts in favor of survival, fled through the portals from which they came, back to their own world.

"My, that was a rather an enjoyable struggle." Joked Kisuke as he and the others sat within the confines of the room behind his store.

"You call _that_ enjoyable?" Sokka asked skeptically, "Those things were trying to east us! I don't enjoy being eaten!"

"Ya got that right, one of those things almost took a bit out of my side," Said Toph, the blind Earthbender caressing a shallow wound from her assailant's teeth, causing her to wince slightly. "Those basterds have some pretty sharp teeth."

"Indeed they do." Rukia agreed, speaking from personal experience.

For her part, Gi—having giving Katara's body back to her master and returning to her own catlike form—sat on her master's lap, a small, cutesy smile spread across her plushy face. She looked up at Katara, and her own smile quickly faded when she looked upon the girl's expression. A sadden scowl across her own face, her blue eyes filled with a hint of guilt.

"Katara-Sama, what's wrong, _pyon_?" She asked with concern, "Aang-Sama and the others all came to see you, we all survive the Hollow attacks, so why are you sad? You should be happy that we all came to see you!"

Sitting by the wall to the Waterbender's right alongside Ichigo, Aang looked to her and spoke, "You blame yourself for everything that happened, don't you?" She nodded silently, "Katara, none of that was your fault, it was those Shinzuibendas, _they're_ the ones responsible."

"But I'm one of them," Katara said weakly, fighting back the tears, "Ever since I got these powers, I've been trying to keep it a secret from you. I knew the Hollows were too much for any of you, and that I was the only who could fight them. I didn't want any of you hurt."

"I think they'd understand what you're going through." Ichigo said, hoping to cheer the girl up, "When I first got my powers I felt the same way, I didn't anyone I cared about hurt. But sometimes you have to throw your own cautions to the wind and let your friends help."

"That was quite deep of you Kurosaki-San. I seen your time as a Shinigami Representative has given you a good out look on life." Applaud Kisuke with a grin. "And very true."

"Ichigo's right Katara, no matter what freaky new ablates you have, you're still the same Sugar Queen we've all known." Toph smirked, "Besides, I'm pretty confident that I can still take your new form down."

"Considering what her new powers have done to her Waterbender, I wouldn't start boasting just yet Toph." Warned Sokka.

"Katara, we're all friends here. No matter what happens, we'll stick by one another, you know that." Aang assured her, offering a small but heart warming smile.

"Friends forever, _pyon_!" Shouted Gi joyfully.

She smiled back, the guilt of lying and deceiving her friends subsided somewhat, "Thank you… all of you." She muttered quietly, the tears she had keeping bottle up finally breaking through, flowing down her cheeks like a waterfall. "I… really don't deserve friends like you."

"Of course you do, they care for you as much as you do them Katara-Chan. I don't see why you would think other wise." Kisuke said with a comforting tone, but soon gave way for a more serious one as he continued, "Now that the whole gang is here, we can focus on a more difficult matter at hand."

"You mean these Shinzuibendas, the ones like Katara."" Ichigo began, brown eyes starring burning with their all tool familiar intensity, "I get that their part Benders and part Shinigami, but what do they want?"

"If I had to guess," Katara spoke, the hopefulness that gleam in her eyes subsided a bit, remember the fateful battle with Xu. "They might have a plan to end the war."

The orange haired youth looked at her, a painful look in her eyes. The Waterbender had mentioned how her world was engulfed in a century long conflict started by one of the four elemental countries—the Fire Nation—and how many had lost their lives. "But isn't that a good thing? If they want to stop the war, then maybe you should to get them on your side."

"Their method might come at a high price, Kurosaki."

A new voice spoke, startling everyone expect the shopkeeper, who merely smiled. "Ah, Histugaya-Taicho, glad you could come." He greeted as the door slide open, reveling the young, white-haired captain of the Tenth Division.

"Shiro!" The Water Tribe girl gasped in surprise. How long was he there? "Why are you here?"

"Has the Shinigami Research Institute found what they were looking for?" Rukia asked, expecting the answer.

"Yes," The White haired youth nodded as he walked in and sat before the group, "First of all, I apologize for the deception this whole time, Aang." He said, bowing his head before the Avatar.

The young monk chuckled sheepishly and waved his gesture off, "It's okay Chi… I mean Toshiro; you were only doing your duty."

"Gi told us all about you Shinigami folk, and while I don't get the whole thing, I won't be mad at for only doing her job." Toph said with a smirk, "I'm just amaze you could fool _me_ of all people. I'm pretty good when it comes to finding liars."

To the Waterbender's surprise, a slight smirk appeared on the corner of the boy's usually static lips. "I appreciate it. As I was saying, we found documents on the Shinzuibendas, and the information is most alarming." He paused for a brief moment, knowing that what he was about to say would have a great impact on them. "The Shinzuibendas first appeared a hundred years ago —right at the beginning of the war."

As he expected, stunned silence befall the elemental natives, the news shaking all four of them to their very core. The first to gather his thoughts, the Aang looked at him, brown eyes glaring into the Shinigami Captain's own aqua green ones. "When the war started? How, what happened?"

"At first Soul Society wasn't sure, but eventually they came to the assumption that it was caused by the very weapon the Fire Nation used in their initial strike: Sozin's Comet." Toshiro continued, the group eerily quiet, "For reasons unknown, the spiritual level of the comet was unprecedented, the sheer amount of Reiatsu it held was unlike anything Soul Society had ever seen. We believe that's why Firelord Sozin's Firebenders were so powerful at the time."

"But I take it that wasn't the only thing it did?" Sokka asked, to which Toshiro nodded.

"At the time there were well over a thousand Benders with dormant Shinigami powers, and as the comet soared through the sky, its Reiatsu affected them and awoke their powers. Soon after we came down in order to help them cope with their new abilities, eventually we earned their trust and were ready in to recruit them into our ranks."

"Thing didn't as plan, did they." Katara spoke lowly, well aware of what was coming next.

The white haired captain sighed heavy before continuing, "Very few Shinzuibendas were able to reach a level of power matching that of a captain, among them was one named Matsu. However, as the war continued and the Fire Nation continued their atrocities, he was among the first to speak out of aggressive action against them. Soul Society treated him as just another disgruntled soldier over a war that was well above them, but that soon changed when Matsu took action.

"He rallied others to his cause, his numbers swelling in the hundreds. Finally he crossed the line when his army slaughtered every Fire Shinzuibenda on the planet." He paused, letting the information sink into everyone's minds. What was to come next, he knew, would be hard for them to take in, but now was not the time to hold it back. "After that massacre, which saw the end of more than a quarter of the Shinzuibendas, he led his army in a genocidal counterattack against the Fire Nation. He didn't just attack military bases and outpost, but also cities, towns, and villages that the Firebenders called home."

The female Kuchiki's violet eyes widen with horror, a nauseous feeling building up in her stomach, "That's horrible, so he was willing to wipe out every last Fire Nation citizen from existence." She said morbidly.

"Yes," Toshiro nodded, "When the order came, the Shinigami were force to step in and stop them. The battle lasted for hours, countless Shinigami and Shinzuibendas were killed. The fighting was so fierce that even the Captain-General joined the fray, and their leader was foolish enough to face him alone. Despite their control of the elements, the Shinzuibendas were out numbered and out matched, and the fight soon turned into a slaughter…until only Matsu himself was left standing."

"But they didn't kill him," Katara spoke, her voice low with grief of what become of the Shinzuibendas. "They let him live."

"No, rather than executing him, Soul Society sentenced him to exile, and he was sent to Hueco Mundo, the world of the Hollows. But not before he swore that he would finish what he started." Toshiro said, "Perhaps they didn't want the last of the Shinzuibendas wiped out."

"How noble of them, but that only leaves us with the threat we face right now." Kisuke spoke, contemplating everything Toshiro had told them, "Histugaya-Taicho, I am to assume that we're to put an end to whatever Matsu has planned?"

Toshiro nodded in reply, "Yes, we believe that with the Comet's return, its energies has started reach across the planet, which explains how his new followers came to be. We also found reports of skull shaped necklaces that the captain level Shinzuibendas created in their uprising. We're not sure what they do exactly, but it was the reason for their genocide against the Fire Nation populace." His eyes fell on Katara, "Katara, hand me the skull necklace, I'll take it back so the Research Institute can analyze it."

Nodding, Katara reached a hand into the inner pockets of her shirt, rummaging through to find it. All the while, the catlike Mod-Soul averted her button eyes away from the group. "That's odd, I thought it was in here," The Waterbender said as she looked down at Gi, "Gi, what happened to the necklace?"

When the now nervous doll did not reply, Katara scowled, "_Gi_?" She sneered.

"_Hehehehe…_About that…" Gi chuckled nervously, "After you left, I sorta threw it over the bridge where you fought…_Pyon_."

"…." An awkward silence befell everyone, but was broken when a slightly enraged Toshiro growled, "_Gi_!"

"I HAD NO IDEA IT WAS AN EVIL SUPER WEAPON! I THROW IT AWAY BECAUSE I WAS SO MAD AT WHAT HAPPENED TO KATARA-SAMA!" The Mod-Soul shouted in her defense.

_I knew I should have killed you. _Toshiro moaned in his mind.

"No need to worry, there's a good chance that it sunk to the bottom of the river." Sokka butted in, "All we gotta is go back to Ba Sing Se, find the necklace, and then keep it away from the bad guys."

"Then we better leave right once we're ready," Spoke up Ichigo, drawing everyone's attention, "I may not understand what's going on in your world, but I know you're going to need every bit of help you can get. So count me in on this."

"Ichigo's right," Rukia said in agreement, "I'll join you as well."

The Water Tribe girl smiled her respect for their strength and courage growing, "Thank you Ichigo, Rukia, we can sure use your help. What about you Shiro."

"I've already sent Masumoto back to Ba Sing Se; we'll meet up with her and Vice-Captain Renji there." The snow haired Shinigami answered. "Aang, Sokka, Toph, try to understand that we're not facing an average enemy. Are you three really up for this?"

Aang sighed, thinking of what Toshiro told them about their enemy. _I wonder if I could have stopped them if I hadn't gotten trapped in the iceberg_. He thought woefully. Part of him believed that the fate that befell Matsu and the Shinzuibendas was his fault just as much as the war that birthed them. _If I didn't leave, none of that would have happened…I'm gonna make a difference this time._

"I'm ready." He said, determination in his voce. He would not fail the world again.

"I'm all for it, I'm not about to let some ghost benders one me up!" Said Toph eagerly, "Bring it on!"

"While I still can't believe _any _of this, I'm not gonna back down." Was Sokka's reply. "Besides, if my baby sister is going to take much of the burden of this fight, I'll be there to take some of it off her."

"Let's go beat up some evil Shinzuibendas! _Pyon_!" Cheered Gi, throwing a stuffed paw into the air.

The Captain could not help but smile, "Alright then, lets go."

* * *

"I can't believe uncle wanted me to by tea leaves this late!" Moaned Zuko irritably as walked down the empty city streets, the moon above and street lamps scattered about his only source of light. "Honestly, this tea will be the death of him one day." Three big bags of tea leaves were flung over his shoulder, and he struggled with the trying to keep them in his grasp. As he continued down towards the street, back to the new apartment where he and his uncle resided, his mind continued to playback to the fight several weeks ago.

_Shinigami, Hollows, I don't understand any of this._ Every since the attack from the Earthbender Zhang, the young prince had been seeing more and more of the white masked demons hovering about. Fortunately, Iroh had informed him that these abominations could sense ones spiritual energies, and he had taught him how to mask his presence from them.

Regardless, Zuko kept his guard up, ready to fight back against the fiends should he have to. If they planned on eating him, he would not just let them.

A deep chill went down his spine, forcing him to stop in his walk. _I'm being watched_. He dropped the bags at his feet before scanning his surroundings. "Whose there?" He called out, but no answer, "Show yourself."

Still no answer.

"Guess it's just me."

"Wrong fire punk."

He didn't what happened just then, he felt the cold steel of a sword cut through his left shoulder, forcing him to bite his lower lip to keep himself from screaming out. Instinctively he jumped back several feet, kneeling down as he looked over his shoulder, his shirt stained with red liquid as it seeped from the painful gash.

Gritting his teeth, he looked forward, spotting the one responsible, "you again."

"Good to know you remembered me." Grinned the Earth Shinzuibenda, blood stained katana in hand, "I'm looking forward to finishing what I've started."

"If it's a rematch you want," Zuko began as he dropped into his Firebending stance, ignoring his injury, "Then let's go, you and me."

"Who said he was alone?"

A feminine voice called from behind, he looked around just as another blade closed in at his head. He jumped to the side, skidding across the ground as his second attacker stood to her full height, dressed in a dark blue version of her much larger companion's attire. "It's a shame we have to waste you." The woman said, black eyes gazing into Zuko's golden ones, "You're kinda cute, even with that scar."

"No point in filtering Qin, I doubt you're his type." Mocked Zhang, earning a venomous hiss from the woman, "Besides, he won't be worrying about girls in the next few seconds. Bury them six feet under, _Ishiakuma_!" Zhang impeded his weapon into the ground; the Zanpakuto buried itself just as the earth around the man's feet cracked violently.

Qin sighed, spotting a large puddle a few feet away from her, "What a waste of a good man. Down the heathens, _Rikiddomoui_!" She tossed her weapon aside as it suddenly liquefied and scattered into tiny droplets that merged with the puddle.

Zuko watched helplessly as rocks and water gathered around the two warriors, cursing himself for not bringing his broadswords with him. Three tendrils of water rose at Qin's command, which she then threw forward, turning them into razor sharp ice spikes. The Fire Prince managed to evade them by rolling to the side before coming to a full stop. He thrust both hands forward; a stream of flames flying towards the Waterbender, but a wall of stone rose up between them and blocked the flames. Zhang stomped his foot down hard as a large chunk of rock jumped into the air before him, he then thrust the rock forward towards Zuko, but the boy ducked down to avoid it.

"Gotcha!" Shouted Qin, summoning a long whip of water to her. She lashed out at the Zuko and managed to wrap the water around his leg.

The Firebender let a burst of fire at the whip, hoping to evaporate it, but was shocked when it had no effect. Smirking, Qin raised arm upward, her water whip following obediently. Zuko was launched into the air as the whip released him, and as he fell to the air to ground, Zhang brought both of his arms upward, a massive pillar of earth sprang up from the ground and smashed into Zuko head on.

Dust flew up in the air upon impact, and Zhang lowered his arms, the pillar following his command and descended downward. "Not so hot are you Prince Zuko?" Mocked the Earthbender as he and Qin walked up to the downed prince.

Zuko coughed violently, forcing himself to roll painfully onto his back. He could feel every bone in his body scream with pain, blood trickling down his forehead. His vision was distorted, but he could still make out the two powerful benders hovering over him, laughing maniacally.

"You want the honors Zhang?" Qin asked him.

The Earthbender chuckled, "You know it."

With a wave of his arm, a giant slab of rock rose up before him. He clutched it in his hand, brining it over his head as he starred down at the beaten prince. "You should have stayed home, _your majesty_." He mocked, about to crush Zuko under the slab.

"Howl,_ Zabimaru_!"

A long bladed weapon caught their attention, and both benders jumped out of the way to avoid it. With an infuriated growl, Zhang tossed his stone slab blindly forward, but the strange blade smashed it into dust with one stroke. The smoke cleared quickly, revealing the prince's rescuer.

"Looks like I made it just in time, Prince Zuko." Spoke the stranger, looking down at the injured Firebender.

As his vision cleared, Zuko could see the warrior easily, his bizarre spiky red hair, his all black kimono, and the strange looking sword that he rested on his shoulder, "Who…are you?" He asked weakly.

"Sixth Division Vice-Captain, Abarai Renji, at right service… I guess."

* * *

_**Shinigami Cup: Golden!**_

**Aang: **Thanks for giving us a tour of the town before we leave Katara.

**Katara: **No problem Aang, it's nice to have someone from my world with me.

**Sokka:** Hey, what's that over there at the window?

**Katara:** Oh that? Ichigo said it's a "lava lamp."

**Sokka: **_Oh…it's pretty…_

**Katara:** _I know…_

**Aang:** _Wow…_

**Toph:** You guys are possessed by that thing, aren't ya?

**Aang/Sokka/Katara:** _Yes..._

**Toph:** its times like this that I'm glad I'm blind.

* * *

**Last Words from the Shogun:**

_SRK's _first update of 2010, and it wasn't long since the last one. Yay, there's hope for me yet!


	21. Heat of the Soul

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:**AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, a God of Death. As well as a new breed of fierce enemies that not even the Avatar can handle alone. But that might be the least of her concerns.

**Disclaimer****: **Avatar: The Last Airbender is the rightful property of Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bleach is the rightful property of Tite Kubo.

* * *

Chapter Nineteen: Heat of the Soul

"Why is it that every time I'm about to waste this brat, some Shinigami comes out of nowhere to stop me!?" An infuriated Earthbender groaned, his anger sending tendrils of green spirit energy flailing into the air. "First it was that big chested woman, and this guy, is this Shinigami central or something?"

From his position on the ground, Zuko looked on as his strange savior, Renji, turned away from him and faced the two Bender/Shinigami hybrids. He gritted his teeth against the pain all across his body, readying himself to act on a moments notice. "_Oi_, Prince Zuko, can you still fight?" Renji asked him, stilling staring down at the two enemies.

"Yeah, I can." Zuko muttered as he slowly rose to his feet.

"Good," Renji smirked, "I'm sure you can hold your own against these guys, so let's kick some ass."

"Don't get full of yourself!" Qin roared as she sent her whip lashing out at the two, but the managed to jump out of the way in time.

"Prince Zuko is mine." Zhang brought his foot up and stomped on the ground beneath him hard, a large chunk of rock rising before him at his command. With a hard punch, the rock shattered, and a large, two handed sword made of green crystal was now clutched in his hands.

With surprising agility, the massive Earthbender leaped into and came down on Zuko in a vertical spin, crystal weapon a circular blur. The Firebender managed to jump out of the way as his opponent brought his sword downward before lunching several fireballs at him, but Zhang brought several rocks up and lunched them, intercepting the fireballs with little effort.

The towering Earthbender charged once again, bringing his sword around in a brutal swing, but Zuko managed to evade that attack and bringing his curled hand up, flames consuming his fist as it made contact with the left side of Zhang's face. The warrior screamed out in pain, the youth's fire burning at his skin.

"_Damn you!_" He screamed agonizingly, staggering backwards as his face seethed with pain. He soon regained his stance, turning back to face Zuko, his new scar etched on his left cheek "_Now I'm really going to kill you!_"

With a confident smirk, Zuko raised his hand in front of him and waved in his fingers in 'Come here' fashion, "Why don't you try then."

* * *

Across from them, Renji held his ground against the female Waterbender, the tip of her whip solidifying into a razor sharp ice blade as she lashed out at him with repeated attacks. But the Shinigami Vice-Captain was a well experienced fighter, and his whip like Zanpakuto easily deflected each of the woman's attacks.

"Give it up lady; ya don't stand a chance against me." He declared boldly, dodging another attack from her whip with little difficulty.

With a defiant scuff, Qin snapped her water whip at him again, but the red haired man did so in kind, Zabimaru extending outward and easily sliced through the liquid weapon as its bladed half flew past Renji and splashed into the puddle behind him.

When he saw the sinister grin on her face, he realized what she was planning, "Oh no."

"That's right," Qin said mockingly; bring her arms up as the puddle behind Renji rose at her command. He turned around sharply, only to be hit head one by the flow of rushing water with enough force to send him to the ground, his kimono soaked.

"I know what you're thinking." The woman spoke, "A little water never hurt anyone, right? Not this time!" With a swift wave of the hand, the water that covered Renji's clothing quickly froze over before finally changing into tiny ice spikes and plunging themselves into his body.

Renji grunted against the freezing pain that coursed through him, the ice spikes piercing his skin and brutally cracking his bones. Ignoring it all he pushed of his feet, quickly wiping most of the frozen mini weapons off his body. "That all you got?" He sneered, irking his opponent.

Bringing both arms up, Qin summoned the water around her, forming two long whips that she sent at Renji who, despite his newly acquired injuries, managed to jump upward, avoiding both whips. "That ain't gonna work on me, how about ya try something-"

Before he could finish, the whips shot up after him and wrapped around his legs. With a hard tug, the Waterbender's whips pulled down on their airborne victim, bringing Renji down to the ground in a thunderous crash.

"I told you not to get full of yourself Shinigami, and look what happened." Qin said with an amusing smirk, "How's about you turn tail and leave?"

The redhead pulled himself from ground, his face twisting with agony as he slowly stood to his full height. "Like hell, I just won't underestimate you again, that's all." He charged forward, bring his weapon down on the Waterbender, who side stepped the elongated blade and sent several ice spikes at him.

Renji dodged the spikes in time as his opponent charged forth, the water around her left hand forming a claw like appendage before freezing over. He blocked an oncoming swipe aimed at his chest; he then shoved the woman back, forcing her to stagger for a brief moment before he brought Zabimaru down on her, the metal pike-like protrusion at the top digging in her right shoulder. Red liquid spewed out as he savagely yanked the weapon out, tearing through flesh and gushing out more blood.

"_Agh!_You bastard!" Qin growled as she gathered water around her would and turned it into ice, stopping the flow of blood for the time being.

Renji only chuckled, "Who should turn tail and run now?"

* * *

_The Shinigami I knew would put up a fight, but the Fire Prince…_ Xu sighed from his sitting place atop the rooftop, _Zhang, you're embarrassing yourself. I mean really, he's _just _a normal Firebender!_

Sighing once more, he rose to his feet, "I gotta do everything here, do I?" His sword lay at his side; he reached for the hilt and brought the blade up before him. "Burn their very existence, _Kazangan-Senshu_."

His weapon dissipated into black smoke, he breathed it in deeply, bringing the smoke into him and regaining his Firebending. Xu then leaped off the roof and into the air, soaring over the four combatants below.

With a grin, he sighted the Shinigami and Fire Prince below, battling his two comrades and holding their own well. He thrust his arms downward and a massive burst of fire erupted from his fists, aimed at the two enemy warriors below.

* * *

When light above caught their attention, Renji and Zuko looked above as the stream of fire came down on them. Quickly the two of them jumped out of the way as the flames impacted with the ground, expanded outwards in all directions and causing the two Shinzuibendas to shield themselves with their respective elements.

"What was that?" A baffled Zuko asked as the sudden flames died out.

His question was answered when a third figure sudden drop down from the sky, swiftly landed between the two paired fighters. He was slightly shorter than the other two, dressed in a red and black styled version of his comrades' clothes.

"Xu?" The giant Earthbender had called in out in surprised, "Why are you here!?"

"Zhang, Qin, your job is to eliminate the prince," The Firebender replied firmly, "I'll take care of the Shinigami." With that, he thrust his right arm forward and sent a fireball at the redhead, he immediately rolled to the side and evaded the attack as the newcomer charged forward.

"Damn it," Renji grunted, bringing his weapon up to block a flaming kick from Xu, "Just what the hell are you guys planning?"

"Oh, nothing special, just doing what the Avatar couldn't." Xu joked, "That's all you need to know!" He twisted himself around, and caught the Shinigami in the face with a well placed roundhouse kick, sparks flying from his feet.

Renji staggered back from the blow, a slight burning sensation across his cheek as he tried to straighten himself once more. Xu spun in place as a long, whip-like stream of fire came to life in his hands. He flicked his wrist, and the fire whip obediently snapped and went soaring at the Shinigami, but Renji saw in time and leaped into the air, avoiding the flaming weapon.

In the air, the Vice-Captain retailed by swinging down and extending his own whip-like Zanpakuto at Xu, but the Firebender easily sidestepped the attack, a confident smug on his face.

"Might wanna look back Firebender." Renji called out with a grin.

Xu took a quick glance behind him, and to his horror the Shinigami's blade, like a ricocheting bullet, bounced off the wall of a building behind and came back at him. Xu quickly cart wheeled out of the way as the blade passed by, it continue to bounce of walls and floor tiles, leavening a long trail of thread in its wake.

"Looks like you need to work on your aim Shinigami!" Xu mocked, now standing in the middle of the frenzied line of his opponent's weapon.

Landing on the ground, Renji looked up at Xu and smirked, "And you need to pay better attention Shinzuibenda."

He pulled on the hilt of his weapon, and Xu's eyes widen in realization. "Oh crap…" The thread of Renji's weapon, completely surrounding Xu, came down on the Firebender and consumed in a giant ball of metal. The ball began to move about, the sound of steel clashing against steel and its victim's screams filling the night air.

Suddenly a burst of fire exploded from within ball, sending the massive thread of metal flying in every direction as a towering inferno rose to the sky. Renji folded his arms over his face as hot embers shot out and singed the sleeves of his kimono.

The flames died down a moment of two later, and Renji finally lowered his arms to see what had happened, He saw Xu standing before him, panting hard from the act of his Firebending. His red robes were completely shredded, and his body covered with deep cuts from Zabimaru's attack.

"Thanks, now I gotta get another set of clothes." Xu heaved.

Renji scuffed, "Shouldn't have underestimated me then, hothead."

"I won't now."

* * *

Zuko ducked and rolled out of the way as Qin sent a giant javelin of ice flying at him, he countered by launching two large fireballs at her, but the Waterbender easily performed a cartwheel perfectly between the two blazing projectiles. She then stretched out her arm and a long stream of water whipped out at Zuko.

The young prince dodged the attack, but was then smacked with the side of Zhang's green crystal sword, sending him smacking into the wall of a building. "You're dead fire brat!" He laughed as he swung his weapon down to slice Zuko in half.

Zuko quickly pulled himself out of the rubble and dogged the blade, and the weapon merely smashed the wall behind him. He then ducked low and swiped at the big man's feet, throwing off his balance, and sending him to the ground. The young Firebender jumped up high above Zhang and unleashed a massive stream of fire down on him.

The Earthbender, without a second thought, threw his arms up and summoned a solid wall of earth around him, blocking Zuko's flames. Zhang then sent his earth shield upward at Zuko like a projectile, hitting the still airborne prince flying across the air.

Qin saw him flying at her, and she summoned all the water around her. She gathered it together, forming a small tide wave before sending at the Firebender. The rushing water slammed into him, sending young lad smashing to the ground.

"This wasn't as smooth as I would have liked it to be." Qin said as she approached the downed Zuko, forming an ice spike in her hand, "Lets just end this."

"Back of Qin!" Roared Zhang as she got back to his feet, sword in hand, "He's mine."

"Forget Zhang, this whole mission is giving me a headache! I'm about to finish this so we can-"

She was stopped mid-sentence by a hard kick to her chest, sending staggering back as Zuko quickly got back to his feet. He breathed hard; his body beaten and bruised by his two would be assassins.

With a battle cry, Zhang charged forward with his massive weapon raised overhead. Zuko spun around quickly in time to see the Earthbender coming at him, but he did not falter. He breathed in deep, and fluidly threw his right arm forward, unleashing an even larger wave of fire than before.

Shocked by the display of bending, Zhang skidded to a stop and raised his crystal sword up in front of him to block the fire. The fire smashed into the sword, the intense heat ran throughout the crystal weapon, it reached the hilt, burning away at Zhang's hands. But the Earthbender did not let go.

_He's just a human Firebender! _He screamed mentally. _How can he have so much spiritual power!_

The heat was too much, the grip of his weapon slipped, his hands searing with hot pain. His crystal weapon finally gave way, shattering into pieces as the fires slammed into Zhang, he screamed out in agony as the flames burned away at him.

From across the battlefield, Renji and Xu sensed the sudden spike in Reiatsu, their focus turned away from each other as they both looked to the young Firebender and the massive fire blast he had launched. "…_Damn_." They both said simultaneously. Zuko dropped to his knees with several deep breathes, the effects of the long fight finally taking its toll on his body. Across from him, Zhang laid motionless on the ground. His clothing almost completely burned away, leaving the bloodied, scorched marks that covered much of his body.

A pitiful groan escaped his lips as he stirred back into consciousness. By the grace of the Spirits, he still lived!

From behind Zuko, Qin ignored his Earthbending comrade's condition as she realized Zuko's. A wide grin spread across her face, "Perfect." She muttered sinisterly, summoning her ice pike to her hand.

"Forget it Qin," Xu called out, suddenly vanishing from in front of Renji with his Shunpo, only to appear beside the fallen giant. "We're done here." He continued as he lifted Zhang up off the ground, bringing his red gaze down on the woman.

"…" Qin was silent for a moment; the Firebender's eyes sent the all too familiar dread through her own weary body. With a sigh, she let her frozen weapon revert back to water and summoned the droplets that made up her Zanpakuto back into her hand.

With a nod, Xu turned his attention to Zuko, red eyes staring into the prince's golden ones. "See ya around, _your majesty_." With that, the Shinzuibendas vanished in the blink of an eye.

"That's not the last we'll be seeing of them." Renji said, his own weapon turning back into a normal katana before he drew in back to his scabbard.

Still breathing heavily, Zuko brought his head to the black garbed redhead. "Who were those guys!?" He heaved with demand in his voice, "Who are you people!?"

Renji scuffed at his tone of voice, "Your welcome."

* * *

_**Shinigami Cup: Golden!**_

**Sokka:** I gotta say, these other world clothes are pretty comfy.

**Aang:** Tell me again why we're going to this school?

**Sokka: **Are you serious Aang? C'mon! These girls unbelievably cute! I doubt my Water Tribe charm won't fail to get the ladies to flock around us.

**Aang:** Won't Suki get a _little _upset if she ever finds out?

**Sokka: **Well…

**Aang: **And let's not forget that Yue is the moon Spirit.

**Sokka:** You…really think Yue…

**Aang: **Well, as the Avatar, I'm pretty sure some kind of retribution will come down on you.

**Sokka:** …Suddenly I've lost my charm…

* * *

**Last Words from the Shogun:**

Faster updates are faster. And a shameful reference to a Bleach game.


	22. Pact

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, a God of Death. As well as a new breed of fierce enemies that not even the Avatar can handle alone. But that might be the least of her concerns.

**Disclaimer: **Avatar: The Last Airbender is the rightful property of Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bleach is the rightful property of Tite Kubo.

* * *

Chapter Twenty: Pact

"So that is the reason behind all this chaos in the city, it is most disturbing to hear." Inside the new apartment, the elderly Iroh sat at the small table in the center of room, a hot pot of tea in his hand as he poured the refreshing liquid into two cups. "Care for some my new feline friend?"

"Gladly." Replied the small black cat as the old Firebender passed it one of the cups. It lowered its head a bit and took several quick gulps of the drink, savoring the jasmine taste, "This is good."

Iroh Smiled, "Thank you for the compliment Yoruichi." The warm hearted expression faded, however, when he returned to the topic at hand, "The Avatar's Waterbending friend is one of these _Shinzuibendas_, I saw her with my own eyes sometime ago. I haven't seen her since then."

"That because she and the rest of her friends aren't in this world at the moment." Yoruichi informed him, tearing away from the tea cup, "They're due to return by dawn tomorrow if all goes well over there, along with a few associates of mine from another world. Which is why I came here to ask if you would help us against these renegade Shinzuibendas."

"Me and My grandson you mean?"

"Correct, I've sense his Reiatsu before and I have asked a Shinigami stationed in the city too keep an eye on him. He might be of immense help in our struggle."

"Speaking of which, I wonder what's keeping Zuko. He's been gone for too long." As if on cue, the door to the apartment opened and two figures moved in. One, to Iroh's horror, was the bloodied and beaten form of his young nephew as the second figure—garbed in the black outfit of the Shinigami and with spiky red hair—dragged him inside. "Zuko!" The former Fire Nation general rushed to the man's side and helped lay Zuko across a nearby mattress.

"Was it them Renji?" The cat asked as its yellow eyes were on the wounded Firebender.

"Yeah, they'd of killed if I hadn't showed up." Replied the Shinigami, Renji, "Wasn't easy fighting them off though, especially their own Firebender."

"I thank for looking after my nephew Shinigami." Iroh said, never taking his old eyes off the moaning prince. "Prince Zuko, can you hear me?"

A painful whimpered escaped the prince's lips, his golden eyes opened and closed several times before they settled on his uncle, "Uncle," He muttered, "I'm okay."

"Excellent," Zuko turned to the source of the new voice and saw the small cat on the table across from him, "Zuko-San, we have much to discuss."

Caught off guard by the strange talking creature, Zuko instantly jumped into a sitting position, and his wounds reminded him of the recent battle in response. "What is _that!_?" He shouted, his golden eyes still on the cat.

"How rude." The cat pouted, "The names Shihōin Yoruichi, and the man who rescued you," With its head, the cat gestured to the Shinigami besides Zuko, "Is Abarai Renji, a Shinigami Vice-Captain from Soul Society."

Zuko, quickly recovering from his initial shock, settled down on his mattress and turned to the black clothed warrior, offering him a slight nod, "Thank you for your help." He said.

"No problem, Yoruichi-San asked me to keep an eye on you anyway." Renji informed him. "But don't think those guys are done hunting you though."

"All the more reason why I'll be ready for them next time." Zuko said, trying to lay his sore body down once again. "I've come too far to be killed by a bunch of ghosts."

"They are not ordinary ghost Zuko," corrected Iroh, "They are-"

"Hollows and Shinigami, I remember what you told me uncle." The boy interrupted, he didn't need to hear it twice. "I'm not going to let these people stop me from continuing my search for the Avatar regardless."

Yoruichi let out a sly snicker at his comment, "Funny you should mention that."

Puzzled, Zuko let his gaze fall on it with question, unsure of what the cat was saying. Iroh let out a heavy sigh, fearing that this day would come, "Zuko," He began; he regretted having to break the respite they both enjoyed. "The Avatar has been in the city for weeks now."

"_What!_" The prince shot his eyes on his uncle upon hearing his words. Too quick did he move, and his injuries punished him once again, but he ignored them. "You knew the Avatar was here and didn't tell me!"

"Even if I did, what good would it have done you now! Your father has branded you a traitor, and Azula is hunting you down even as we speak!" Iroh shouted back, more forcefully than he intended, "Zuko, we are criminals to the eyes of the _entire_ Fire Nation now, capturing the Avatar will no longer restore your honor. It never would have to begin with."

"You don't know that Uncle, maybe-"

"I don't know everything about your family's history Zuko-San, but your concerns are meager compared to the situation at hand now." Yoruichi interrupted him. "The reason I've come here today is to offer you a chance to fight _alongside_ the Avatar and his companions. Allow me to bring you up to speed.

"Recently Katara, Aang-Dono's Waterbending friend, became a Shinzuibenda—a Bender with Shinigami like powers— and had left this world with the Avatar and her friends to meet with a friend of mine in another one. These other Shinzuibendas that attacked you are planning a gruesome way to end this war with the Fire Nation, and whatever they have planned will undoubtedly result in many innocent people dieing. This brings me to you and your uncle."

The prince, still riled about missing the Avatar, relaxed himself somewhat upon hearing the cat's words. "You want us to join forces with you and the Avatar?" He was unsure of what Yoruichi was talking about, he stirred with its words in his head, and still he could not understand any of this. _This is insane!_ "I've been chasing him across the world, why would he accept my help even if I agreed."

"Your people might be in danger of being wiped out!" Renji put in, "We just assumed you weren't _that_ heartless!"

"Renji please," Scowled Yoruichi, "Zuko-San, Iroh-San has told my about your two year search for the Avatar, how you believed that it would be your chance at redemption, and how your own family has forsaken you. He's right when he says that capturing the Avatar will not work now. But perhaps standing against this new enemy will restore your honor. I am to assume that is what you want, correct?"

The prince mauled over the cat's words. Of course his honor meant everything to him! It was all he had left after his mother disappeared that night all those years before, the only thing that stilled mattered to him and that he refused to lose now. But Yoruichi thought _helping_ the Avatar would regain it? How can that be so?

"Well Fire Prince, friend or foe, which is it?" Yoruichi asked sternly.

_If my attackers come after me again, I guess really have no choice._ "Alright, I'm in." The prince nodded.

A smirk crossed the feline's lips, satisfied with his response, "Very well then, we have a new ally against the Shinzuibendas." It said, "I'll be looking forward to fighting alongside you in the coming battles."

"You're going to fight as well?" Iroh asked, "Don't you think you won't be capable of it?"

"No, not in this form at least." At that instant Yoruichi closed its eyes, and a faint violet glow appeared around it. Both Firebenders watched with awe, neither one the faintest idea of what was happening as the cat started to take on a new, shapely form. Renji gawked at what was happening and threw his hands over his eyes. As the violet glow faded from around Yoruichi, both Zuko and Iroh gawked at the sight: where was once a cat on the table now sat a beautiful—and naked—dark skinned woman with long purple hair. Zuko shouted in shock and fell hard on his back; his wounds stabbing at him again, while Iroh, completely red in the face, followed the Shinigami's example and covered his eyes.

Yoruichi grinned, "You all look like you've never seen a naked woman before."

* * *

Long Feng let out a low sigh of irritation at the four Shinzuibendas, who gathered in his private quarters. Matsu, silent as always, sat in a mediated position at the far end of the room while his three followers were seated on the sofa in the center. "So we have Firebenders hiding in the city," The Dai Li leader said, having been informed of the group's recent shenanigans. "And you decided to attack and kill the boy without thinking of the mess you would make. _As always_."

"If it wasn't for that Shinigami, I've could have killed off the prince." Zhang growled, ignoring the man's last statement, as he flinched from his Waterbending comrade's attempt to heal the hideous scar on his face. "Damn it Qin you suck at this!"

"Why couldn't the kid burn your mouth off?" Qin snapped back.

"Why don't you two shut up?" Xu spoke, uninterested in stopping another of their arguments. His fight with the redhead known as Renji had left him with an utterly ruined Dai Li uniform, it its place the Firebender was now dressed in black, loose-fitting clothes trimmed with red, similar to what swordsmen from his native homeland wore. "It's been a hell of a night, and I think we tore up Long Feng's city enough for one day."

"Thank you for your consideration Xu." Said Long Feng deadpanned. "You people may not see the seriousness of the situation, but I _do_. The Dragon of the West was close to capturing Ba Sing Se before, but now that he's in the city he could organize a coup d'état to finish what he started, and that is something that I will not have."

"Long Feng," Matsu finally spoke up, his old eyes locked onto the Da Li leader, "Those Firebenders are the least of our concerns, I fear that once the Avatar returns, he will have aid from the Shinigami to try and stop us. Remember: if we fall, so do you."

"I'll be damned if I fall alongside you, but for the benefit of the Earth Kingdom, what would you have my men do?"

"Have them prepared for battle, we must wait for our enemies to drop their guard before we strike."

"What, a full on assault against the Avatar and the Shinigami? Are you out of your mind!"

"Relax Long Feng; we've been drilling your men for this moment for months." Xu Put in, "Once Jet lets us know that the monk and his buddies are back, we'll be ready to hit 'em when they least expect it."

"Your confidence sent chills down my spine Xu." Long Feng said.

The Firebender laughed, "Learn to loosen up when this is over."

Long Feng sighed, well aware that he was now on the losing end of this alliance. He didn't think much of it, but if these Shinigami—these so called _Gods of Death_—were as powerful as they said, then everything the Dai Li had worked for in the last hundred years could come toppling down on them. The fact that the Avatar was on their side as well didn't help it neither._ Still, if need be, I still have one card that will help against the monk. _His thoughts drifted to the Sky Bison he had captured, locked away within the Dai Li's hidden base. "Fine then, I will send word to my men, and we will be ready to move on your command."

Matsu tore his eyes off Long Feng, his mind on other matters. _Soon Avatar Aang…soon…

* * *

_

Though she enjoyed the time she had spent in the other plane of existence, Katara felt completely out of place in Karakura town. With its strange sights and unfamiliar technologies, much like how she felt when she left the South Pole for the first time months ago.

At least that what she assumed their new companion felt about there world now.

Dressed in simple peasant clothes, Ichigo strode along with the rest of the group through the inner city, his unusual hair color drawing unwanted attention from the locals. He ignored them, he was use to it. "If you're being watched by these _Dai Li _guy, then don't you think they'll find it strange that you come back with a complete stranger?" He asked.

"The house we got shackled to is the only place we got in the whole city." Toph answered, arms folded behind her head, "We don't have a lot of options at the moment."

"And they'll find it stranger that I've been gone for so long." Katara added, "Though I wouldn't be surprised if they're involved with the Shinzuibendas." The Dai Li was of little concern to her at the moment. Toshiro, along with Rukia and Gi, had left after arriving in the city to locate the skull necklace the Mod-Soul disposed of after the battle, hoping that it was still there.

Still curious about this strange world, the Shinigami boy opened his mouth to speak again, but closed it when the group approached what he assumed was their small home, spotting a familiar face sitting at the steps leading to the door. "Renji!"

The redhead looked up at the voice and spotted the Substitute Shinigami among the gang, "Figured you come Ichigo." Renji joked.

Before Ichigo could reply back, his eyes caught sight of a small, flying creature that flew toward the Waterbender and wrapped itself around her happily. Katara smiled, "Hey Momo, it's good to see you too."

"That's our Lemur Momo." Sokka informed Ichigo. "He may look cute and cuddly, but it's not easy cleaning up after home, surprisingly."

"…That's…a little more than I needed to know…" Ichigo cringed slightly.

Aang watched as Momo sweet licked Katara's cheek, the Lemur must have missed her as much as he did. "Thank you for watching him Renji."

"No problem," Renji waved him off, "By the way, Yoruichi and I found a couple of new allies for ya, there waiting inside." Aang and the others—excluding Ichigo—unsure of what he meant, made their way up the stairs with the Avatar at the head. The monk pushed the door inward, and the group looked to see two familiar figures at the table in the center of the room.

One of them, a scarred face youth, turned to them awkwardly and waved, "Uh… hi, Zuko here."

* * *

**_Shinigami Cup: Golden!_**

**Toshiro:** Okay Gi, do you remember _where_ exactly you threw it?

**Gi: **Let's see….Ah! I think it might be over there! _Pyon!_

**Toshiro:** Then go get it.

**Gi: **Huh? Wait wha—_AHHHH!_ _**SPLASH**_

**Rukia: **Isn't that a little harsh Taicho?

**Toshiro:** It's the only way she'll learn.

**Rukia: **I don't think she can Waterbend…or swim.

**Toshiro:** Not in her current form, at least.

**Gi:** _TO HELL WITH YOU POWDER-CHAN!_

**Toshiro:** You better find it if you wanna get out sooner.

**Rukia:** _You really hate her don't you?

* * *

  
_

**Last Words from the Shogun:**

Good day everyone, I won't say I'm sorry for being late because life calls on me you see, and as an adult in this 21st Century world I must attain to the matters that adults must see to. I hope you understand. Thank you for your patience.


	23. The Alliance

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary: **AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, a God of Death. As well as a new breed of fierce enemies that not even the Avatar can handle alone. But that might be the least of her concerns.

**Disclaimer:** Avatar: The Last Airbender is the rightful property of Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bleach is the rightful property of Tite Kubo.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One: The Alliance

Leaning against the outer wall beside the door, Ichigo shifted uncomfortably at the silence from inside. just moments before, Aang and the others, after seeing the two familiar faces sitting there in the room, threw themselves into their respective fighting stances, bracing an attack. It never came, however, as the older of the two Firebenders, who was called Iroh, stood up and told them that they all had a common enemy: the Shinzuibendas. They wished to join forces against them.

With no understanding of the personal pasts between the groups, Ichigo and Renji decided to wait outside while the Benders went over the idea of an alliance. "How do you think its going in there?" Ichigo asked.

Renji only shrugged, "Hell if I know, though I hope it's not too bad."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know much about Zuko and his uncle, but I do know that they spent the last two years hunting down Aang and his friends all across the world."

"Meaning that they've fought each other a few times?"

"Yeah, but I hope they can put that aside for now, we gotta focus on fighting the Shinzuibendas."

"And it'll be hard if they ended up fighting each other."

"Exactly."

As they two Shinigami spoke, the door swung open and Katara stomped out, shutting the door behind here, though with a bit more force than she probably intended. She let out an long, worn out sigh as she brought her hand up to her face to massage her temples. "Well…" the redhead began, but stopped when the Waterbender turned her furrowed eyes at him.

"They told us about what happened the night before, and how they want to help us fight Matsu and his followers." She grumbled. "After arguing about it for awhile, we left it up to Aang to decide. And as much as I hated it, he said we should take them up on their offer."

"That probably the best choice you know, whatever help we can get will probably be needed." Ichigo put in. "I don't blame you for not trusting them though, from what you told me about the war and all you have every right to hate them."

"You're damn right I do!" Katara snapped instantly, "You wouldn't understand Ichigo; this war hurt me in more ways than you think!" She took notice of the stunned expressions on the boys' faces, realizing her own sudden reaction, she breathed out heavily, the intenss look in her face falling off somewhat. "I…I'm sorry Ichigo, I'm just under a lot of stress. I need to take a walk." She hurriedly turned to move down the steeps and walked off, her head throbbing like never before.

Still surprised by her outburst, Ichigo watched as Katara walked off into town. He wasn't sure why, but she seemed off today. _Almost like..._

* * *

Zuko found the silence unbeatable as the Avatar and the Water Tribe youth eyed him from across the small table and the blind Earthbender's face was aimed in his direction, her silver eyes almost appeared to be piercing through him. "I know this must seem strange to you all." Iroh spoke from beside Zuko, "We had no intention getting caught up in this fight, but they found out about us somehow and attacked."

"Its fine, we might have ended up running into each other eventually." Aang said.

"But why are they after you guys anyway?" Sokka asked, still uncomfortable with having the two Fire Nation nobles with them, "Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Zuko deserves whatever he has coming to him." A snarled twisted on the prince's face.

"I don't why, but I don't need help from the likes of you." Zuko growled, "If they come at us again, I'll be ready."

"_We'll_ be ready." Aang corrected, "I may not trust you Zuko, but we need to work together if we have any chance to stop Matsu and the Shinzuibendas. You have me, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and not to mention Ichigo and the other Shinigami, you don't need to face them all by yourself."

"And of course me, Avatar-Dono."

An unfamiliar, famine voice called out from somewhere in the room, and Aang, Sokka, and Toph were instantly on their feet. The Two Fire Nation, however, were unfazed, "Ah, lady Yoruichi. I was not sure if you were still here." Iroh said calmly, and almost as if one cue, a new figure instantly appeared before the group, sitting crossed leg in middle of the table the table. A dark skinned female with tied back purple hair and dressed in simple Earth Kingdom clothes.

Aang and Sokka starred beauty, baffled as Sokka finally gaped, "…Y-Yoruichi? You're not a cat? And you're a _woman_!"

"Of course silly, cats can't obviously talk." Yoruichi mused, "Besides, I wanted to see the looks on your faces." Her yellow eyes fell on Aang, "Back on topic, how do you intend to find this man Matsu, Avatar-Dono?"

"W-well, Katara said that they're able to summon Hollows," Aang mumbled, blushing from Yoruichi's gaze, "So I figured that if we find a Hollow as soon as it appears, it might mean that one of them is close by, then we capture them and force them to tell us where this Matsu is."

"So you want us to wait around until we get attacked again? That's insane!" Zuko protested, "We're better off finding them while they least expect it, we'll have the advantage then."

"I don't know if you noticed Zuko, but these guys are _way _better fighters than the Fire Nation." Toph pointed out, "I doubt ambushing 'em will be of much help, even with _my_ abilities. Besides, they probably already know we're here."

"What makes you say that little one?" Iroh asked.

"Well, Katara said that we were nearly killed by a Hollow on the night she got her powers. The Dai Li told us then that they needed help with some spies from the Fire Nation, but it turned out to be a Hollow." Toph explained, and suddenly the wounds from that vague encounter flashed across her body slightly, "If I had to guess, Long Fang is working with these guys."

"Great, he gave us another reason not to trust him." Sokka remarked.

A quick rap of the door sounded off before it slowly swung open and reveled the figure of Ichigo, his eyes falling instantly on the two Firebenders, "Sorry, making sure you're all doing okay." He said as he entered.

"Oh Ichigo, I wasn't expecting you to be joining us." Yoruichi grinned, "Things will be much better for our little group with you here."

"Another Shinigami I take," Zuko said, eyes on Ichigo with disdain, "Don't you think we have enough of them?"

Ichigo grimaced at his word, "Nice to meet you too."

"Don't mind him Ichigo; he's just an angry jerk." Sokka told him, and then turned back to Iroh and Zuko, "No offense."

The prince's furrowed as he let out a low growl at his remark, faint streams of smoke erupting from his clenched fists. But the older Firebender rested a hand on his shoulder, restraining him before he did anything rash.

Yellow eyes darting between the two groups, Yoruichi began to wonder if this alliance would work. Zuko was uncooperative, and Aang and his friends were being hesitant to rely on the Firebenders. _If things breakdown at this rate, we won't be able to stop whatever Matsu has planned..._ Her gaze fell on Ichigo, who also sensed the uneasiness pervading the room. _It's a good thing you're here Ichigo, you might have to be the bridge to the keep them all together for this fight._

After a moment of silence, Zuko, finding no other way to convince his temporary allies on what to do, relented, "Fine then, we'll wait for now and see what happens."

* * *

She leaned against the railing of the bridge, the river below her flowing down stream, an unhindered beauty in its own way. To any onlookers, Katara's face appeared serene and pleasant, but the thoughts that raced across her mind were a maelstrom.

_Of all people, why was it _him!_ This has to be a trap, he just wants to capture Aang and bring him back to the Fire Nation. There's no way he can be trusted…_

In the recesses of her mind, a voice called out to her—a voice that was not her own.

_**Then kill him.**_

She gasped slightly from the response. _Kaiyou, is that you?_

_**We both know that Firebenders can never be trusted, they'll betray you when they have the chance. Why give them that luxury?**_

_I know, but Aang said—_

_**He's a fool!**_

_No, he's not…_

_**You know what they're capable of, how they lie and manipulate people.**_

_Shut up…_

_**Have you forgotten what they took from your people?**_

_Shut up…_

_**Have you forgotten what they took from **_**you?**

_Shut up!_

"Katara," The outside voice that spoke her name broke the thoughts in her mind—at least for the time being—as she turned sharply to the end of the bridge, seeubg the black and white robed figure of Toshiro approached her.

Putting the mental conversation behind her, Katara forced herself to smile slightly, "Hey Shiro, any luck?"

"Nothing so far, I've sent Matsumoto and Rukia to continue the search." He replied, taking notice of the exhausted expression of the girl's face, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Shiro; it's just that we have some new people helping us now."

"New people?"

"Remember when I told about Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation," When he nodded, she continued, "Well, he and his uncle are here in the city, and they're willing to help fight Matsu."

"You don't sound too happy about it, though."

"Zuko has been chasing us all across the world, doing whatever it took to capture Aang, so this has to be a trap. What if he's—"

"Working with Matsu? I can understand the hostility, but think about it: why would the Shinzuibendas waste their time to use them if they could just as easily attack us again, like they did that night?"

The Water Tribe girl grumbled in response, turning away from him and looked out across the river once more. "We've been at war for a hundred years Shiro," She finally countered, her eyes, once furrowed, now soften as distant memory resurfaced in her mind "You have no idea what this war has put me through, me _personally_."

The Shinigami captain looked on as her hand shot up to grip the blue pendent around her neck, and his usually stoic expression broke, if only slightly, from the pained look in her eyes. "Hey Shiro," Katara spoke again, turning her head to face him, "When this is all over, do you think you can do me a favor, when you get the chance?"

Toshiro raised an eyebrow at that, unsure of what she was getting at, "What is it?"

"I need you to find someone in Soul Society for me…my mother. Her name's Kya."

He sighed slightly at her request, "Billions of deceased spirits call Soul Society home, Katara, finding her among them won't be easy. But…" To her amazement, Toshiro offered her a small smile, "I'll see what I can do."

A single tear rolled down Katara's face, and she whipped it off gracefully as she smiled, "Thank you Shiro…"

"_Katara-Sama!_" The high pitch cry caught their attention then, and both Katara and Toshiro turned to see the cake like doll of Gi approach them. Her Earth Kingdom dress completely soaked and dripping with water, and she looked to be on the edge of crying. "Powder-Chan threw me into rivers all over the city…and I almost drowned and…" Finally, the Mod-Soul cried out, her voice echoed through the inner city as she ran forward, jumped up and grabbed onto her master.

"Shiro!" Katara pouted as she began to bend the tiny doll dry.

In his defense, Toshiro's familiar stoic look returned to his face as replied, "It's her fault that we can't find the necklace."

* * *

Every so often, The Shinzuibendas needed to get away from the propaganda and conspiracies that was Long Fang's world, giving them the space free to discuss what the Dai Lin need not hear. And so, the four of them had gathered in a small abandoned barn beyond the inner walls, their only source of light a paper lantern that Xu had ignited.

Matsu himself was seated crossed leg in the center of the barn while Xu and Qin sat across from him. Zhang, meanwhile, was leaning against the wall on the far side, his new scar clearly visible on his face.

"So, the Avatar has finally returned." Matsu said, his voice was rasp but assertive.

"That's what the Dai Li have confirmed, and they didn't come alone." Xu pointed out, "Several new people have joined, possibly more Shinigami from Soul Society. I'd hate to say it, master, but we're outnumbered right now. Had this been a hundred years ago, we'd probably have a better shot."

"Had this been a hundred years ago, you would not have been born Xu." The Shinzuibenda leader scowled.

Qin chuckled from her place beside Xu, "So what if they've got more Shinigami with 'em, we can just send in a few Hollows to wear 'em down, then go for the kill."

"You really aren't smart, are you Qin? We're gonna need more than mindless demons to stop this group." Xu said, "If anything I bet Katara could beat you to a pulp, seeing as how she was trained by—" The woman's sword flashed out from its sheath then, the cool steel pressed and nicked at the Firebender's neck, drawing a dash of blood.

"_Don't_… mention that name around me." She hissed.

"Someone's got a temper." Zhang laughed.

"Qin." Matsu called out, and the woman turned her eyes to him. "Withdrew your sword." He ordered. The Waterbender hesitated for a moment, but she relented and returned her weapon back to its holster. "Xu is right, of course. Hollows are only useful to a certain extent. What we need is something worth drawing them into our trap." He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small item from within. "This will do nicely."

The three other benders saw him holding a wooden, bison shaped whistle.

Placing the end of the whistle to his lips, Matsu blew in hard. A monstrous roar echoed across the room a moment later.

Xu smirked, "Master, you are cold, but a _genius_."

* * *

**_Shinigami Cup: Golden_**

**Zuko:** So, Ichigo…

**Ichigo:** Yeah?

**Zuko: **What's wrong with your hair?

**Ichigo:** Nothing, why?

**Zuko:** It's orange! That's not a normal hair color, not in this world anyway.

**Ichigo:** Neither is controlling the elements in my world.

**Zuko:** My bending is not the subject here, your hair is.

**Ichigo:** Well what about your scar? Did you get into a barbecue accident or something?

**Zuko:** _Shut up!_

**Iroh:** Reap what you sow, Prince Zuko.

* * *

**Last Words from the Shogun:**

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone! I haven't been around much because I'd been busy with job training for a retail position. Anyway, here's a quick chapter before I get started on that SRK spin off I have in my profile, that should be fun to do.

See ya then.


	24. Matsu's Attack

**Soul Reaper Katara**

**Summary:** AvatarxBleach crossover. After buying a mysterious necklace, Katara is given the powers of a Shinigami, a God of Death. As well as a new breed of enemies that not even the Avatar can handle alone. But that might be the least of her concerns.

**Disclaimer:** Avatar: The Last Airbender is the rightful property of Bryan Konietzko Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bleach is the rightful property of Tite Kubo.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Two: Matsu's Attack

Another building collapsed to the ground in the more poverty stricken area of Ba Sing Se's outer city, sending dust and debris blowing in every direction as the surrounding locals scattered and fled, all the while Katara found it a miracle there were no fatalities.

With Aang and Ichigo beside her, the Waterbender dashed down the now empty streets of the city with sword in hand—not that anyone other than her two companions would see her weapon. The three of them stopped suddenly when the wall to their left exploded in a haze of dust and smashed earth. Aang brought his staff and twirled around, a tornado blowing the dust aside to reveal half a dozen white faced Hollows before them.

Sensing the Avatar's Reiatsu, the Hollow turned their soulless eyes on him, and with one hungry cry they all lunged forward, ignoring the two Shinigami with him.

"Wash away all, _Kaiyou Danshaku!_" In an instant, ice spikes from Katara shot out at two of the white masked demons, puncturing their faces with implacable accuracy before their bodies dissolved into nothing.

The four remaining Hollows halted their made charge upon seeing their comrades killed so easily, backing away at the sight Aang and Ichigo taking their hesitant as a chance to go on the offensive. Aang, with his Airbender speed, dashed under the legs of one of the Hollows before to a stop behind it. He then turned and reared his arms back, the ground beneath the beast consuming its legs and held it in place as Ichigo lunged forward, his massive Zanpakuto neatly carved through the Hollow's midsection.

Two more beasts, with furious growls, attacked the orange haired Shinigami, but were hurled back by a giant gust of wind which sent them flying into the wall of another abandoned building.

With a nod of gratitude to the monk, Ichigo turned back to the down beast, his sword held high as a blue wisp of spiritual energy danced across the sharpened tip of the blade, **"**_**Gestuga Tenshō!**_**"** With one swing, a wave of blue energy surged from Ichigo's sword and swallowed the two Hollows, their cries of pain growing faint as the powerful attack ended their after lives.

The last Hollow, seeing its companion taken down so little effort by the three of them, turned around and tried to escape, but Katara was already one it, her hands in the air as she formed one of her few Kido spell, **"**_**Bakudō #9: Geki!"**_ Before it knew it, the Hollow's body became engulfed in a faint red light, paralyzed as Katara formed another spell, **"**_**Hadō #33: Sōkatsui!**_**" **She raised her hand at the immobilized Hollow and a beam of energy shot out from her palm a second later, consuming the Hollow in a massive blur as the thing cried out before it was silenced forever.

The dust kicked up from the battle finally settled, and the water of Katara's Zanpakuto gathered in her hand and returned to its original form. "Okay Sokka, its all clear." She called out, and as if on cue the figure of her brother crept out from an ally way beside her.

The Water Tribe boy poked his head from one end of the street to the other, before he let out a sigh of relief and sauntered up to the three, "Good job everyone, I think we did pretty well today." He grinned.

"_We_? You didn't do anything." Protested Ichigo, his own weapon already strapped and covered around his back.

"Hey, I'm just the everyday guy," Sokka said defensively, "Aang's the Avatar, and you and Katara are the ghost fighting guys. There's absolutely no reason for me to fight these freaks when you three are _trained_ for this."

The foreign Shinigami mumbled something under his breathe before Aang spoke in his place, "Any sign of the Shinzuibendas Sokka?"

Sokka shook his head in dismissal, "Nothing, either this was just another random Hollow attack, or these people are _really_ good at hiding themselves."

Katara groaned in silent frustration, cursing their luck so far. After the two Firebenders joined them the days before, the group scattered across the city, fighting off the Hollows in an effort to flush out Matsu or any of his allies from whatever hole they were hiding in, but it was all in vain. If it continued as such, then the next time their enemies attacked, it would be of their choosing.

_All the more reason to be ready._ Katara told herself, and the phantom wound from their last engagement started up at the thought, but she did her best to ignore it. "Everyone else must be back at the house already, let's head home see if they had any luck."

* * *

Matsu sat crossed legged, hands over his lap. He sat alone in one of confined rooms of the Da Li's headquarters, a single, lit lantern hung above him on the stone wall to side, emitted a faint light in the man's dark surroundings.

He still wore his worn out cloak and hat, for he refused time and again to accept any clean, more elaborate garments from Long Fang. It would only serve to prove that it was he who held the strings in this alliance, and that was a satisfaction that the old Shinzuibenda would allow him.

_Long Fang…you think yourself in control of this city, that the world beyond its walls cannot touch either it or you._ He laughed a little at the thought, a hollow laugh. _A mistake I made a long time ago._

His right hand clasped over the sleeve of his right arm and pulled it over up to his elbow. He looked down at the mess it was, and looked upon the hideous scar that consumed the whole limb—a horrendous burn that he had suffered in his rebellion a century ago, and now it was a motionless, unusable piece of his body.

_To think this could have been avoided, if _he_ had not abandoned us._ He reached into the pockets of his cloak and pulled out the very centerpiece of his efforts: the single skull necklace. _No matter, I shall be the one who makes up for his mistake._

A section of the wall in front of him sank into the ground; he looked up and saw Long Fang enter the room, his face a grim snare. "What is it?" Matsu had little patience left for this man.

"My men are in place, everything is set." Long Fang said, "I do hope you take into consideration what happens tonight will reach even the Earth King's ears."

"Maybe he'll learn that there is a war after all." Matsu shrugged.

"You don't get to joke!" Long Fang shouted, fed up with the Shinzuibenda's attitude. "I have given everything you and colleagues of asked of for all these years, and now when I expected payment for the deed, you all decided to trash my city! How do I benefit from this-?"

He was cut off then as Matsu hand clenched around the man's neck. The old man squeezed slightly, his face expressionless. "For starters," He said, "You will live." He released his hold on him, and Long Fang dropped to his knees, gasping for breathe.

"Do not test me Long Fang; I have waited a hundred years for this moment, to finally confront that cowardly Aang." Matsu told him, his voice a harsh whisper.

"And….may I ask what the Avatar has done to you?" Long Fang asked, getting to his feet.

Matsu said nothing; instead he reached up for his hat with his good hand and removed it as long, thin strips of white hair fell all around the side of his head. Long Fang looked at him in awe; this was the first time he saw Matsu without his hat on. Nonetheless, his question was answered, he understood.

* * *

"Where the hell are these guys anyway?" Toph mumbled as she and Iroh sat in a small street vendor's hut.

The owner had brought them a hot pot of tea, and Iroh took a long, savoring sip from his cup before he spoke, "Perhaps they don't wish to be found. And I have my speculations that the Dai Li might be aided them." He spoke in almost a whisper, so as no one besides the two of them could hear.

"We won't know for sure until Zu…I mean _Li_ and Gi come back." Toph said, taking the two Firebenders' aliases into account.

"Yes, Katara's strange servant really wanted to go with my nephew." Iroh said.

Toph smiled at that, "Of course she does, I can sense it. Gi's crazy for him, she even told me herself about it." She recalled what the Mod-Soul had told her about her feelings for the prince.

"_Even though Katara-Sama said I shouldn't trust him, I can't help myself!" _Gi had squealed, _"When I looked into his handsome, golden eyes, I knew then and there and we were meant to be! _Pyon!_"_

The old Firebender laughed wholeheartedly at that, almost spilling the tea in his cup, "Perhaps she might be good for him." He joked.

The two of them sat in silence after that, the looming dread of the inevitable fight weighing down of them. Moments later, the other two members of their group returned from their search. Iroh chuckled he caught sight of Gi, possessing Katara's body, with her arm around Zuko's, a delighted look on her face. An expression the younger Firebender did not share.

"We got nothing." Zuko said dryly as he tried to free himself from the strange girl's grip.

"Were two really looking for the Shinzuibendas?" Toph smirked.

"_S-shut up!_" Zuko shouted. "I've been trying to, but this crazy girl wouldn't stop hounding me."

"I couldn't dream of leaving you alone in case a Hollow attack," Gi said cutely, tightening her grip on the boy's arm, "I couldn't forgive myself if something happens to you, my darling Zu-Kun_. Pyon_!"

"Stop calling me that!" Zuko snarled. Why did the spirits pit him with this frustrating lot?

The old man and the blind girl laughed a little at the two's antics, forgetting the situation that had brought them together for only a moment. _My dear nephew, these people are exactly what you need right now_. Iroh thought. _They will change you for the better…or at least I hope so._

"Let's us head back for now, maybe our other friends have found something." Iroh said as he got to his feet.

"You go back uncle; I stay out a bit longer." Zuko told him, an irritated gaze falling on Gi, "_Alone_." The Mod-Soul pouted.

"No nephew of mine is gong to risk this without some back up." Iroh protested, "Gi, could you-"

"Of course!" Gi interrupted happily, eyes beaming. "Let's go Zu-Kun!" With her arm still around Zuko's, the crazed girl sped off into the opposite direction, while the Firebender prince was almost dragged behind him, shouting out to her in protest.

"…" Iroh watched them fade off into the distant street before they disappeared from his sight, "Maybe I should have stayed with him."

"I doubt Gi would have liked ya for it." Toph said, deadpan.

* * *

The time was upon them.

Xu, Zhang, and Qin, along with a few dozen Dai Li agents, gathered at an abandoned cul-de-sac in a poverty stricken area of the city. Xu felt the tension in their human allies mount up as the minutes ticked away, but he couldn't tell if it was for the what was about to happen or if they were hesitant, after all this time, to trust in the Shinzuibendas.

He shrugged it off, of course, once this was all said and done they'd go their separate ways, back to whatever lives they wish to have. _I wonder what I'll do with my life after we win_. He could go back to his native Fire Nation, perhaps back to his family after ten long years. _I'll cross that bridge when I come to it._

A new presents made itself known to him and the others, and the rouge Firebender turned around to catch the familiar eyes of the man he had followed for so long, "Master Matsu, everything's set."

"Good," Matsu said flatly, old eyes peering out to the Dai Li forces, "Remember, all of you, the Avatar must be brought here, alone. Do what you can to keep his associates at bay until I say otherwise. Understood?"

The Dai Li were silent, as they always where, but they all nodded in perfect unison. Matsu felt the distrust in them, though, the growing animosity of being used as tools for him. But their feelings meant nothing to him, only ending this war in the cowardly Avatar's place was important.

"Excellent." Matsu looked to his subordinates, "Let us begin."

The three other benders nodded, their faces in seldom expressions as they lowered their heads The Shinzuibenda leader, almost immediately, let a while pitched whistle, Xu followed suit a second later, then Zhang, and finally Qin. To the Dai Li agents who listened, it was almost appeared to be a soothing melody from these strange spirits.

But they knew what this whistle truly meant.

Above them all, the night sky became violently distorted, creating several ripple-like patterns across this district of the city. To normal, human eyes this would go unnoticed, but the Dai Li caught sight of the inhuman things that slithered from these ripples, howling into the night. While their many figures and proportions varied, the all had one thing in common: The bone whit masks that they well wore, a fighting testament to their fall to savagery.

As the beasts began to spread out across the district—as per the mental orders of their summoners'—the elder Matsu smiled thinly. _Now I will seek justice, Avatar Aang.

* * *

_

**Last Words from the Shogun:**

OMG! No Shinigami Cup today! ….well, mostly because I couldn't think of a good one this time, but I'm sure next time will be different.

So yeah, after so long we're finally heading for the most intense moments of the plot, or at least what I hope for it to be. Plenty more action will be coming up in later chapters, and of course, like I slightly did with Xu here, the origins of each Shinzuibendas' members will finally be revealed. So thank you for sticking around thus far, and stay tuned for more.


	25. Special Announcement

**Special Announcement from the Shogun**

Hey everyone, Bronx Shogun here. I know this isn't the update you've been waiting for, but I got major announcement to make. The reasons why this hasn't been update are many: Work, family matters, video games, writing other stuff. You know, the usual shit. As it is, I've decided to discontinue SRK, or at least this version of it.

I've been working on this for what, 5 or 6 years, and to pull it down, the story unfinished, fuck that! I've decided to take this own down, and writing up a newer version after I've updated another story of mine.

Sorry for the inconvenience, but I'll make it up to you in the revised story. Might need a beta reader for it, but well see.

Also, as for this one, I'll leave it up til the new version is ready, just so you can enjoy it a bit longer.


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